Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Brussels attack: President Erdogan says bomber was caught in Turkey last year and deported to the Netherlands

Turkey warned Belgium and the Netherlands he was a militant, the president said

Wednesday 23 March 2016 17:43 GMT

Turkish president Tayyip Recep Erdogan said the bomber was detained at Turkey's border with Syria at Gaziantep (AP)

One of the Brussels attackers was caught in Turkey in June last year and deported to the Netherlands, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

President Erdogan said Turkey warned both Belgium and the Netherlands he was "a foreign fighter".

He did not name the attacker, who he said was detained at Turkey's border with Syria at Gaziantep.

President Erdogan said: "Despite our warnings that this person was a foreign terrorist fighter, Belgium could not establish any links with terrorism."

An official in the Turkish president's office later said the attacker deported from Turkey was Brahim el-Bakraoui.

Earlier reports suggested el-Bakraoui was deported to Belgium, but this was later corrected to the Netherlands.

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Show all 27

1/27Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack.

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Wreaths of flowers in front of an entrance of the Maalbeek subway station in Brussels in homage to the victims of a terrorist attack.

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

A building illuminated with the Belgian flag colours and a heart in Brussels, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and subway Maelbeek.

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

A picture taken on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, shows drawings and a candle, two days after suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on March 22 in Zaventem airport and Brussels subway Maelbeek

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Candles are displayed in tribute to the Brussels attacks victims on 24 March, 2016 on place de la Bourse in Brussels, two days after the suicide bombing attacks of terrorists on 22 March.

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

A mourner lights a candle in Trafalgar Square during a candlelit vigil in support of the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels.

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels airport workers pay tribute to the victims near Zaventem

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Activists light candles and hold placards to condemn the terrorist attacks in Belgium, during a gathering in Manila, Philippines

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

A banner for the victims of the bombings reads "I am Brussels" at the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left front center, stands with front row, left to right, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Belgium's King Philippe, Belgium's Queen Mathilde and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as members of the European Commission during a minute of silence at EU headquarters in Brussels

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

People join hands in solidarity near the former stock exchange following the bomb attacks in Brussels

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Belgium flags ornate the facade of the Paris Town Hall

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

A woman embraces her children at The Place de la Bourse as she pays her respects to victims of the terrorists attacks in Brussels

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Belgian and European Union flags fly at half mast following the bomb attacks in Brussels

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Candles in the colors of the Belgian national flag are lit inside the Belgian embassy in Madrid, a day after the deadly suicide attacks on the Brussels airport and its subway system

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Servicemen of Azov, Ukrainian volunteers battalion, hold torches in front of floral tributes during a ceremony in front of the Belgian embassy in Kiev, in tribute to the victims of Brussels attacks

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

A refugee boy holds up a placard reading "Sorry for Brussels" at a refugee camp near the Greek-Macedonian border

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

People light candles in tribute to victims at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

A woman holds a drawing by French cartoonist Plantu picturing a character made of a French flag consoling another made of the Belgian flag, in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

The colours of the Belgian flag are projected on to (clockwise from top left) the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the town council building in Belgrade, Rome's Campidoglio and the Royal Palace at Dam Square in Amsterdam

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

Candles are lit in tribute to the victims, at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

A woman holds a placard reading "Paris hearts Belgium, How much time will it take us to open our eyes and say STOP, Today our hearts are broken, Open your eyes to change the future" at the Place de la Republique in Paris

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

People gather to pay a tribute to victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

People write messages on the ground at Place de la Bourse in Brussels

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

A bouquet of flowers in the Belgian national colours with a card reading 'To our neighbours, to our friends, to our Belgian brothers - an indignant Parisian' is seen next to a French national flag at the fence of the Belgian embassy in Paris

Getty Images

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

Solidarity messages are written in chalk outside the stock exchange in Brussels

AP

Brussels attacks: tributes are paid to the victims

Brussels tributes

Messages and floral tributes outside the Brussels stock exchange

AP

At least 30 were killed and over 200 injured in a series of bomb attacks targeting Brussels Airport and the Molenbeek Metro station.

Shortly after 8am on Tuesday, two explosions killed at least 11 people at Brussels Airport.

Around an hour later, an explosion at the Maalbeek Metro station killed around 20.

One of the suspects captured on CCTV moments before the airport attack is still at large.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies