Turkey’s effort to deport foreign Islamic State (Isil) suspects descended into chaos on Monday after officials tried to send an alleged American jihadist to Greece only for the Greek government to refuse to take him.

The Turkish interior ministry deposited the unnamed man at the Greek border but he was left standing in no man’s land between the two countries’ border stations after Greece refused to allow him in.

Turkey eventually took the man back into custody, Greek police said. They described him as "an American citizen of Arab descent".

"The Greek authorities did not permit him to enter and stamped his passport. After that, he returned to Turkey," Greek police said in a statement.

The confusion at the Greek border came as Turkey promised it would start sending European jihadists back to their own countries as part of its drive to deport more than a thousand foreign Isil members in its custody.