Merkel: Daesh/ISIS suspects under security screening

BERLIN (AA) - Daesh/ISIS suspects deported by Turkey to Germany will undergo security checks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday.

Speaking at a news conference in the capital Berlin, Merkel said German security agencies and the Joint Counter-Terrorism Centre (GTAZ) were conducting security checks on the suspects deported by Turkey on Thursday.

“We would like to ensure that these persons do not pose a threat,” she said, adding that authorities would use regular mechanisms and take necessary legal steps.

Ankara on Thursday deported seven German citizens with suspected ties to the terrorist Daesh/ISIS group.

Bild daily reported that a suspect, 55-years-old-man of Iraqi origin, was taken into custody on charges of fraud, insults and threats. Other suspects were his family members.

Local media has reported that Turkey would deport two more Daesh/ISIS suspects to Germany on Friday.

Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, more than 1,050 foreign fighters travelled from Germany to conflict areas in Syria and Iraq, according to German security agencies.

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

Ankara has said several European countries refused its efforts to send Daesh/ISIS members back to their countries.

Turkey has so far deported 7,500 Daesh/ISIS members, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week, adding there are currently 1,149 Daesh/ISIS terrorists in Turkish prisons.