TURKEY on Monday deported citizens of the United States and Denmark who fought for the Islamic State (IS) and made plans to expel other foreign nationals as the government began a new push to send back captured foreign fighters to their home countries, a Turkish official said.

The move comes just over a week after the Turkish interior minister said Turkey was not a “hotel” for IS fighters and criticized Western nations for their reluctance to take back citizens who had joined the ranks of the extremist militant group.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said last week that about 1,200 foreign IS fighters were in Turkish prisons and 287 members, including women and children, were recaptured during Turkey’s offensive in Syria. Several European countries, including Britain, have stripped IS fighters of their nationalities to prevent their return.

A U.S. and a Danish national were deported from Turkey on Monday, while a German national was scheduled to be deported later in the day, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said. Seven other German nationals were scheduled to leave the country Thursday, he said.

Two Irish nationals, two German nationals and 11 French nationals who were captured in Syria were also to be transferred to their home countries soon, Catakli said. (SD-Agencies)