More than 2,500 raids against migrant smugglers have been carried out in Turkey in the last 60 days, resulting in over 1,300 people detained and over 17,000 migrants deported, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th August, 2023) More than 2,500 raids against migrant smugglers have been carried out in Turkey in the last 60 days, resulting in over 1,300 people detained and over 17,000 migrants deported, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday.
"Over the past 60 days, we have conducted 2,548 raids against migrant smugglers, during which 1,385 organizers of illegal migration have been tracked down, 372 of them have been arrested. With regard to 172 of them, decisions on judicial control have been made. Operations on other organizers continue," the minister tweeted.
A total of 35,867 illegal migrants were detained during the raids, Yerlikaya also said, adding that 17,258 of them were deported, with the rest expecting the finalization of deportation procedures.
"I congratulate our heroes who made those raids possible. We will continue to fight illegal migration ceaselessly," the minister tweeted.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after his reelection in May that Turkish nationals would soon feel a change as a result of operations against illegal migrants. Raids to detain illegal migrants under the new interior minister are now conducted daily, including on tourist ferries. Yerlikaya has pledged not to stop fighting illegal migration.
