ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said on Monday that Turkey has agreed to repatriate its nationals among thousands of Islamic State (ISIS) prisoners recently transferred from Syria to Iraq.
Hussein made the remarks after receiving US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack in Baghdad.
“The US side expressed its appreciation for the important step taken by the Iraqi government in transferring ISIS elements from detention centers abroad to Iraqi prisons, within the framework of strengthening Iraq's sovereignty and carrying out its legal responsibilities,” read a statement from Hussein’s office.
“For his part, the Minister stressed that Iraq continues to communicate with a number of countries to transfer its citizens involved in terrorism cases to their countries of origin, appreciating the Turkish government's agreement to receive Turkish citizenship holders from these elements,” the statement added.
Turkey has not publicly commented on the matter.
Earlier this year, Iraq, in coordination with the United States, transferred at least 5,700 ISIS prisoners from Kurdish-held areas in northeast Syria. Baghdad has said it intends to prosecute the detainees domestically, while also urging foreign governments to take back their nationals.