Turkey will take custody of suspected members of the Islamic State terror group (IS, banned in Russia) who are held in Kurdish-run prisons within the designated "safe zone" in Syria, the Turkish foreign minister said Friday
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th October, 2019) Turkey will take custody of suspected members of the Islamic State terror group (IS, banned in Russia) who are held in Kurdish-run prisons within the designated "safe zone" in Syria, the Turkish foreign minister said Friday.
Kurdish militias have been responsible for the detention of some 12,000 IS suspects, 4,000 of them foreigners. The Turkish offensive on the Kurdish-held territories in northeastern Syria, which started on Wednesday, raised questions about the prisoners' future.
"We cannot allow the presence of IS in the safe zone... Its militants cannot be allowed to walk free. We know this better than anyone because Turkey suffered the most from IS, next to Syria and Iraq," Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
The top Turkish diplomat spoke at a press conference alongside NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who voiced serious concerns about the Turkish cross-border operation. Its stated goal is to free a stretch of land in Syria from Kurdish fighters and move millions of Syrian refugees there.
