Turkey to send ISIS suspect to U.S.

WASHINGTON—The United States will repatriate one of its citizens who is suspected of fighting for Islamic State (ISIS), the Turkish Interior Ministry said Thursday. The man, identified by Turkish media as 39-year-old Mohammed Darwis B., got stuck in a militarized border zone when Turkey deported him and Greece refused to let him enter.

Why is Turkey deporting him? The Turkish government wants to send foreign ISIS members imprisoned in the country or in parts of Syria back to their countries of origin. The United States agreed to take the suspect and to provide the necessary travel documents. U.S. President Donald Trump said he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with whom he met at the White House on Wednesday, were “very good friends.” At the meeting, they discussed Turkey’s decision to purchase the Russian S-400 missile system. U.S. lawmakers from both parties had urged the Trump administration to cancel Erdogan’s visit over Turkey’s violent incursion into Syria and its use of Russian missiles.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s report about the challenges of guarding ISIS suspects in custody in Syria.