Turkey Working to Stop Foreign Fighters
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Matthew Dixon/iStock/Thinkstock(ISTANBUL) — Turkey’s foreign ministry said on Friday it has prevented more than 12,000 foreign fighters from entering the country.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Friday that 5,000 of those would-be jihadists have been barred just since the start of this year.
Turkey says it is making an effort to prevent foreign fighters from using the country as a transit point for crossing into Syria and Iraq to fight with extremist groups
Leaders in Turkey have come under international criticism for not doing enough to stem the flow of fighters from nearby Europe and elsewhere into Turkey.
Thousands of foreigners, including a handful of Americans, have crossed the porous border to Syria to join extremist and rebel groups.
In recent days a handful of Dutch and British citizens have been apprehended while trying to enter Syria from Turkey hoping to join the Islamic State.
Turkey however says it has tightened its border, closing two key crossings to all traffic except for humanitarian missions.
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