Turkey has deported 9,000 foreign terrorist fighters from 102 different nationalities, of which 1,168 are from the United States or the European Union member countries since 2011.

In the statement made by the Directorate of Migration Management of the Ministry of Interior, it was stated Tuesday that the efforts to deport foreign terrorist fighters who came from their countries to join terrorist organizations continue.

In the statement, it was noted that 9,000 foreign terrorist fighters from 102 different nationalities have been deported since the Syrian civil war started in 2011.

When the nationality distribution of the deported foreign terrorist fighters is considered, the statement noted that EU countries ranked first and that 59 foreign terrorist fighters from the United States and 1,109 foreign terrorist fighters from EU member countries have been sent to their countries since 2011, according to the scope of the studies carried out.

The statement also underlined that 126 foreign terrorist fighters were deported from 12 EU countries in 2019, 95 foreign terrorist fighters from eight EU countries in 2020 and 69 foreign terrorist fighters from eight EU countries in 2021.

In the seven-month period of this year, 20 foreign terrorist fighters from six EU countries were deported.

France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Romania, Sweden, and Austria were the leading EU countries in terms of deported foreign terrorists.

The issue of the handling of Daesh terrorists and their families detained in Syria, including foreign members of the terror group, has been controversial, with Turkey arguing foreign-born terrorists should be returned to their countries of origin.

Ankara has said several European countries resisted its efforts to send Daesh terror group members to their countries, but it will press forward.

Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, nearly 5,000 foreign fighters traveled from the EU to conflict areas in Syria and Iraq, according to estimates by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, better known as Europol.

Turkey has long criticized European authorities for tolerating PKK terrorist activities on the continent and has pressured them to take stricter measures against the propaganda, recruitment and fundraising activities of the terrorist group.

The PKK is listed as a terror organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.