Turkish authorities have deported 1,170 foreigners allegedly travelling through Turkey to Syria to join the Islamic State militant group, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday.
"According to our Foreign Ministry's data, 12,520 people suspected of links with terrorist organizations have been banned from entering Turkey. We have deported a total of 1,170 people," Erdogan told a news conference.
The president added that the figures showed that Turkey was doing its part by containing the flow of foreign fighters and vowed to continue this effort.
Earlier this week, Turkish security forces apprehended a British woman in Ankara on suspicion of seeking to join the militant group in Syria. The woman was deported to Britain on Thursday.
Last Saturday, Turkey returned three teenagers to London after intercepting them at the request of the British authorities. All three teenagers were charged with preparing to carry out terrorist acts and arrested by the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, according to media reports.
Turkey reportedly became a co-chair of a sub-committee on foreign fighters alongside the Netherlands in order to stem the flow of foreign fighters joining Islamists in neighboring Syria.