Turkey has expelled 8,500 suspected terrorists since the start of the war in Syria | Breaking News Updates

ISTANBUL – More than 8,500 foreign fighters have been expelled from Turkey since the start of the Syrian civil war 10 years ago, the Turkish Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

Terrorism suspects from 102 countries have been expelled, including 44 from the United States and 1,075 from EU states, according to a ministry statement. In the first 10 months of this year, 61 suspects from eight EU countries were deported.

The ministry said a total of 8,585 combatants have been “deported as a result of Turkey’s efforts to provide security within and across the border” since 2011. The deportees had left their country of origin. ‘origin to join groups such as the Islamic State group and the Kurdistan Workers. ‘Party, or PKK, as well as its affiliate in Syria.

Turkey has waged three military campaigns in northern Syria since 2016 and maintains a military presence in the northwestern province of Idlib as well as other areas inside the Syrian border. He is currently carrying out operations against the PKK in northern Iraq.

The Islamic State group carried out a number of major terrorist attacks on Turkish soil in 2015 and 2016 after Ankara joined the international coalition to fight the militants. The bomb and rifle attacks killed hundreds.

The conflict with the PKK has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the group launched its armed campaign in southeastern Turkey in 1984. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and most Western states.

The Syrian wing of the PKK has been instrumental in supporting US-led efforts to drive Islamic State fighters out of northwestern Syria. Washington’s ties to Kurdish fighters, which he says are separate from the PKK, have added to tensions with Ankara, which considers them terrorists.