Turkey ‘resolved’ to stop flow of ISIL militants

BERLIN

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (R) and his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavusoğlu give a joint press conference following talks at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin on September 18, 2014. AFP Photo

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Sept. 18 that Turkey is resolved to stop the flow of European extremists trying to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Çavuşoğlu said Turkey has a no-entry list with 6,000 names and has already turned back some 1,000 people attempting to reach Syria or Iraq.

Speaking after a meeting with his German counterpart in Berlin, Çavuşoğlu said he was “saddened by unjustified accusations” that Turkey has failed to do it all could to prevent foreigners joining the militant group.

He said Turkey could only act if it receives tips from other countries and urged foreign governments to improve the exchange of information on would-be jihadists.

“Turkey cannot fight this matter on its own. First and foremost, it needs information and intelligence sharing with our allies, like Germany, Europe and the United States,” Çavuşoğlu said.

“It is most ideal if these people are identified before leaving their countries in order to prevent their entry into Turkey or to deport them once they’ve entered,” he added.

German security authorities estimate about 3,000 western European citizens have joined Islamic State, 400 of them Germans - many simply by boarding cheap flights to Istanbul then arranging passage across Turkey’s long borders with Syria or Iraq.