Ankara to take back Turkish Islamic State detainees, Iraq says

Ankara to take back Turkish IS detainees, Iraq says — U.S. military vehicles move ahead of buses transporting Islamic State ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq, according to a security source from the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, Qamishlo, Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), February 8, 2026. Photo: Reuters.

BAGHDAD,— Iraq’s foreign minister said Monday that Turkey has agreed to take back Turkish nationals who are among thousands of Islamic State detainees recently moved to Iraq from Syria after detention facilities there were closed.

The detainees were transferred as part of an operation coordinated with the United States after Syrian Kurdish forces withdrew and shut down camps and prisons that had held Islamic State suspects for nearly 10 years.

The facilities had been under Kurdish control in Syrian Kurdistan before the recent developments.

Iraq has said it intends to prosecute suspects under its own counterterrorism laws. At the same time, Baghdad has repeatedly urged other countries to repatriate their citizens who are among the detainees.

Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein raised the issue during a meeting with U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, saying Iraq was in discussions with several governments about taking back their nationals.

He said an understanding had been reached with Turkey regarding Turkish citizens.

A Turkish diplomatic source confirmed the discussions and said Ankara welcomed Baghdad’s efforts to move more than 5,700 Islamic State detainees from Syria to Iraq.

The source said it appeared that Turkish nationals were among those transferred and added that Turkey was ready to coordinate with Iraqi authorities regarding its citizens.

The source also said Iraq’s actions should serve as an example to the international community and stressed that countries of origin must repatriate all foreign fighters linked to the extremist group.

In a separate statement delivered to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Hussein called on countries worldwide to retrieve their citizens who had been involved in terrorist acts so they could face trial at home.

The status of suspected Islamic State fighters, along with thousands of women and children connected to the group, has become more pressing after the Kurdish force guarding them collapsed during an offensive by the Syrian Islamist government.

Kurdish authorities in both Syrian Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan have long warned about the burden of holding foreign detainees.

At its peak from 2014 to 2017, Islamic State controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq, declaring a caliphate and ruling millions of people.

The group was later defeated through military campaigns led by regional governments and a coalition headed by the United States.

(With files from Reuters)