Turkish security forces yesterday detained 11 illegal immigrants as they tried to make their way to southern Turkey's Antalya in a van decorated as a wedding car.

Gendarmerie forces stopped the suspicious van at a security checkpoint on a busy road connecting Antalya to the northern city of Burdur. Inside the van were three Afghan and eight Pakistani nationals, along with life vests and two bags of food.

The security forces detained a Palestinian man accused of smuggling the illegal migrants. Antalya lies on Turkey's Mediterranean coast and is close to Muğla, a southwestern city on the shore of the Aegean Sea, a popular destination for illegal migrants looking to cross into Greece.