Turkey has said it will return "Islamic State" prisoners to their own countries, after several European nations refused to take back terror suspects. Ankara said it would not be a "hotel" for foreign militants.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/F. Dana
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Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu on Saturday said Ankara would repatriate European "Islamic State" (IS) suspects, criticizing certain nations for revoking militants' citizenships.
Turkey has captured some escaped IS fighters in northeastern Syria in the past month after launching an incursion against Kurdish forces in the region.
While he did not give an indication of how many prisoners were being detained, the minister said they represented an unacceptable burden.
"We are not a hotel for anyone's Daesh members," Soylu said, using a pejorative Arab name for the Islamist militant group.
Soylu said Turkey has British and Dutch suspects in custody, as well as those from other countries. He said the revocation of citizenship in the case of individuals deemed to have dual nationality — as practiced by the UK and Netherlands — was taking "the easy way" out.
Soylu used the example of a detained fighter who had been made stateless. "Let's say I keep him in jail for a while. Then he is released from jail. Should I give your terrorist citizenship?"
Several European countries have refused to repatriate IS fighters and their wives and widows being held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Defense Forces (SDF).
The SDF, which spearheaded the ground fight against IS with backing from the US, is believed to be holding some 10,000 militants. However, since Turkey launched a military operation against it in Syria, the SDF has said it can no longer prioritize the incarceration of jihadis.
The Turkish incursion came after US President Donald Trump withdrew some 1,000 troops from northern Syria who had been working alongside the SDF.
Who are the major players in northern Syria?
The US withdrawal of troops from Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria and the launch of the Turkish offensive have created a complicated web of actors, from Russia to Syrian government troops.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS/Staff Sgt. A. Goedl
US: Troop pullback
Over the past years, US troops have supported Kurdish fighters as they battled radical "Islamic State" (IS) militants to take back control of large areas of northern Syria. In what was seen as a surprising turnaround, US President Donald Trump announced in early October that he was withdrawing US troops from the region's border with Turkey. This pullback left a vacuum for others to act and react.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS/Staff Sgt. A. Goedl
Turkey: Anti-Kurdish offensive
Trump's troop withdrawal was a de-facto go-ahead for Turkey to launch an offensive into northeast Syria. The region is home to a largely autonomous Kurdish population and Kurdish militants known as the YPG, who are tied to an outlawed Kurdish party in Turkey. Turkey, who has faced a Kurdish insurgency, sees the Syrian Kurds as a threat to its security, hence the military action.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. Akif Parlak
Kurdish YPG: Fighting Turkish forces
The YPG was one of the US' main allies in the fight to drive out IS from north Syria, but since October it has been fighting the Turkish forces that crossed into Syria. The YPG lacks strong air capabilities and defenses, putting it at a decided disadvantage in comparison to the Turkish army.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Souleiman
SDF: Betrayed by the US
The YPG is the largest component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which also includes Arab and Christian militias. The SDF, which fought IS, controls northeastern Syria and feels betrayed by the US pullback. It is now fighting Turkish troops and their allies. It has warned that the Turkish offensive could distract from making sure IS fighters do not renew their strength in Syria.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Souleiman
Syrian government army: Deal made
The relationship between Syrian President Bashar Assad's troops and the SDF is a tricky one that shifts between cooperation, live-and-let-live and skirmishes, depending on the current situation. After Turkey launched its offensive, the Kurds struck a deal with the government that saw Syrian troops mobilized to fight the Turkish forces, allowing them to enter a region they had ceded to the SDF.
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot
Russia: Stepping up, stepping in
Russia has consistently backed the government of Syrian President Assad (L, with Putin in 2018) and assisted its forces. After US troops pulled out of the Kurdish areas, Russia moved its troops in to act as a buffer for Syrian government forces advancing towards the Turkish army. Moscow wants Syria to remain united and has accused the US of creating parallel structures in the Kurdish region.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Klimentyev
SNA: Turkey's Syrian allies
Turkey also has allies among Syrian fighters. The Syrian National Army (SNA), also known as the Free Syrian Army, is a Syrian rebel group that has fought against the SDF and Assad's government. Backed by Turkey, SNA fighters took part in previous Turkish offensives against Kurdish militias inside Syria. Currently, thousands of SNA fighters are fighting the YPG alongside Turkish forces.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/B. Kasim
IS: A renewed role?
One possible future actor is IS. While it was essentially defeated in March 2019, tens of thousands of its fighters and their families remain in prisons or guarded camps in the Kurdish area of the country. Nearly a thousand alone have already escaped from a camp that was caught in the fighting between Kurdish militias and Turkish forces. Should the situation grow more unstable, IS could regroup.
