Turkey says not responsible alone for flow of foreign fighters into Syria

Turkey cannot shoulder alone the responsibility for stemming the flow of foreign fighters into Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.

Cavusoglu made the remarks at a joint press conference with Macedonia's Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki.

The top Turkish diplomat urged the international community for more cooperation on the share of intelligence information.

Citing three British schoolgirls, believed to be on their way to join Islamic State (IS) militants, Cavusoglu said the Turkish security forces arrested a Syrian citizen working for the intelligence service of an anti-IS coalition member country that helped the teenagers cross into Syria.

Local Hurriyet Daily News reported Friday that the suspect detained was a Syrian national working for the Canadian intelligence.

While stressing that the problem can only be resolved through the international cooperation, Cavusoglu said that the Turkish government has been beefing up security measures particularly at airports, public transportation centers and on the border region with Syria.

Although cooperation with the EU countries is strengthening, there are still deficiencies in the share of information, he added.

He called for blocking the foreign fighters before they leave the source countries in the EU.

Some 1,154 foreign fighters have been deported from Turkey and 19,500 people are banned from travelling to Turkey, he said.

He added that 16 people from Indonesia have been recently captured while trying to cross into Syria. Endit