Nearly 169 migrant smugglers as well as 783 irregular migrants have been caught during inspections across 81 provinces, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Tuesday.
Yerlikaya said on social media that an operation was carried out on Monday against migrants and smugglers.
Yerlikaya noted that 169 migrant smugglers, 132 of whom were foreign nationals, were caught during the inspections and that 783 irregular migrants were identified during the practices in which the identity checks of 430,454 people were carried out.
Yerlikaya said that 27,347 personnel and 8,690 teams worked at 5,761 locations during the operations, and 6,897 public places, 3,892 abandoned buildings and 457 terminals were checked.
“Türkiye provides an exemplary model in migration management, human rights and freedoms, without making concessions to the public order and security,” he added.
Türkiye has been a key transit point for irregular migrants who want to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Every year, hundreds of thousands of migrants flee civil conflict or economic hardship in their home countries with the hope of reaching Europe.
Some migrants make the dangerous journey over land or sea with the assistance of smugglers, who often abandon them, especially during sea journeys, after receiving thousands of dollars from each migrant. Others are stopped by Turkish security forces before crossing the border into Europe.
In some cases, neighboring Greece is accused of pushing back migrants in a controversial practice. In the Aegean Sea, Greek coast guard boats often drive out to avert migrant boats approaching Greek islands.
“Pushback” is a controversial and illegal practice, but Greece has repeatedly engaged in it, according to reports by human rights organizations monitoring migrant flows into Greece, which have escalated in the past decade.
Greece denies that it violates human rights or that it forcefully returns asylum-seekers from its shores.
