Speaking to the ABC, a senior Turkish official also said the country wanted to extradite notorious jihadist Neil Prakash back to Australia to face trial.
Turkey’s “no entry” list is used to stop foreigners from entering Turkey, and is the result of intelligence from Turkey, Australia and more than 100 other countries.
It reveals international intelligence agencies have concerns about a significantly greater number of suspected Australian jihadists than previously known.
The evolution of the list is a window on the international effort to stop the flow of jihadists to Syria and a reflection of how those efforts initially lagged behind the flood of foreign fighters.
The number of Australians on the list grew from just 90 in 2014, with more than 180 added in 2015 and more than 150 added last year, according to a senior Turkish official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence-related matters.
As a result of the list, Turkey has deported 21 suspected Australian foreign fighters over the past two years, the official said.
Around half of them were sent back to Australia, but the rest were sent to other countries, underlining concern about the geographic spread of Australia’s suspected jihadists.
Most were deported in 2015 as Australian Government efforts to stop would-be fighters from travelling, including cancelling their passports, were still ramping up.
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