One of the perpetrators of the Brussels suicide attacks was deported from Turkey twice last year and the authorities warned their European counterparts that they suspected him of being a terrorist fighter, two Turkish officials said on Thursday.
The first official said Ibrahim El Bakraoui’s initial deportation in July had been based on police suspicions that he was a militant fighter, but no crime was committed in Turkey, describing his expulsion as an “administrative deportation”.
Meanwhile, security officials said that during the operations four Daesh suspects were arrested, among which two were Turkish citizens while the other two were foreign nationals, including Ibrahim El Bakraoui. The two Turkish citizens are still kept in custody as part of anti-Daesh operations, while the foreign nationals were deported from Turkey, security officials added.
President Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday that Ibrahim El Bakraoui had been deported last year, and that Belgium had subsequently ignored a warning that he was a terrorist.
Bakraoui is one of two brothers named by Belgium as responsible for the attacks that killed at least 31 people in Brussels on Tuesday and were claimed by Daesh. Both brothers are believed to have died in the attacks.
Turkish media outlets reported that police had detained Bakraoui after ascertaining that he planned to go to conflict areas in Syria.
Turkish officials could not immediately confirm that Khalid Bakraoui had also been in Turkey.
Turkey has been doing its part to identify and stop potential foreign fighters seeking to cross the border to Syria to join Daesh, despite little cooperation in intelligence sharing with its Western allies.
Turkey has stopped more than 36,500 terror suspects heading to join terrorist organization Daesh in Syria.
As part of Turkey’s efforts, police have tightened security at transfer points such as airports, terminals, bus stations and rental car companies.
