Most ISIL members detained on Turkish border come from China

The Turkish military has captured 913 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants attempting to illegally cross the Turkish border since January 2015, according to information gathered from security sources.

The highest number of ISIL members detained along the border so far in 2015 was from China with 324 individuals. The second highest number of ISIL militants captured trying to cross the Turkish border was from Russia with 99 people, while Palestine was third with 83 ISIL militants.   

With increased security measures on the border, the number of detentions has increased 61 percent in the second half of the year, according to security sources.


The number of males attempting to cross the border has almost come to a halt, as a small number of ISIL members attempting the illegal crossing were female, security sources said. 

A total of 478 of the detained individuals were trying to cross into Turkey, while 435 were attempting to cross into Syria, according to figures, which also indicated most were captured in the Elbeyli district of southern Kilis province. 

Cleaned of arms and symbols of the jihadist group, many of the detained were carrying money, assault vests, mobile phones and computers. 

In their testimonies, those who were illegally trying to cross into Syria declared that they were trying to find relatives, while ISIL members that were trying to cross into Turkey declared they were escaping pressure from ISIL, and others stated they had been trained to conduct bombings in a bid to carry out attacks in Turkey.