Summary
Turkey said Monday it had deported two captives from Daesh (ISIS) -- a German and an American -- beginning a program to repatriate detainees that has caused friction with its NATO allies since it launched an offensive in Syria.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu had said last week Turkey would begin to send foreign Daesh militants back to their home countries starting Monday, even if the nations the fighters came from had revoked their citizenship.
Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying that there were 1,201 Daesh prisoners in Turkish jails, while Turkey had captured 287 militants in Syria.
Monday, state broadcaster TRT Haber said that Turkey aimed to repatriate around 2,500 militants, most to EU countries.
Erdogan said Turkey had captured 13 people from the inner circle of Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who died during a U.S. raid last month.
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