Turkey sends back to Netherlands woman who went to Syria

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The Dutch government says Turkey has sent a woman back to the Netherlands who is suspected of travelling to Syria to join extremists.

Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus and Foreign Minister Stef Blok say in a letter to Parliament that the women, who has two children with her, has been stripped of her Dutch nationality.

The ministers say they “regret” that Turkey decided to send her back Tuesday despite Dutch requests not to deport her.

The woman was denied entry to the Netherlands and taken into detention when she arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

Another Dutch woman who had travelled to Syria returned to the Netherlands on the same flight. Both face prosecution.

Ankara recently stepped up the return of suspected foreign Islamic State members back to their countries of origin.