Turkey ‘deported 3,719 foreign fighters since 2011’

ANKARA

REUTERS photo



According to information provided by senior Turkish officials, foreign terrorist fighters added to Turkey’s no-entry list based on intelligence provided by foreign governments are as follows:



2011 – 283 fighters



2012 – 786 fighters



2013 – 2,066 fighters



2014 – 4,822 fighters



2015 – 27,704 fighters



2016 – 16,315 fighters (first nine months)



Officials said intelligence sharing with Turkey was limited until late 2014 despite calls for closer cooperation to stop the flow of foreign terrorist fighters to Syria.



“U.N. Security Council Resolution 2178, which was adopted in September 2014, marked a turning point in efforts to prevent foreign fighters from crossing national borders,” an official said.



As of September 2016, 51,976 terror suspects have been banned from entering Turkey.



Likewise, there has also been a profound increase in the number of foreign terrorist fighters deported by Turkey over the years:



2011 – 132



2012 – 230



2013 – 192



2014 – 526



2015 – 1,785



2016 – 854 (first nine months)



The number of foreign fighters deported by Turkey since 2011 has increased to 3,719, senior Turkish officials have said, noting that 51,976 terror suspects have been banned from entering the country in the last five years.