Ankara will return ISIS fighters back to Syria, though many European countries do not want to accept them.

"We will not hold them forever," Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters in Istanbul today. "We are not a hotel for the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group."

He said Turkey would keep the foreign fighters "for a while. Then we return them to their country".

Soylu said EU nations including the Netherlands and Britain have deprived some of their IS militants to prevent them from returning home. "They found an easy solution. They said 'I have stripped him of his nationality, it's your problem now'. That is unacceptable, completely irresponsible. What do we want us to do with their terrorists? "he said.

Turkey last month launched a military campaign in northeastern Syria against Kurdish militias, which Turkey regards as "terrorists" even though they are Western allies in the fight against ISIS. Turkey took over IS prisoners held by the Kurds. Some IS fighters are believed to be in chaos escaping from prisons. Turkey has halted its operations and is patrolling with Russia on the Syrian border after asking the Kurds to withdraw.

The Turkish government has frequently called on European countries to accept IS fighters as citizens, but many governments do not want to do so because of concerns about public backlash and security.