Turkish Police, Coast Guard nab 45 Syrian migrants

Police and Coast Guard units intercepted 45 Syrian migrants attempting to cross into Europe illegally on Monday in two operations in western Turkey.

In the Ayvacık district in the province of Çanakkale, a popular crossing point for migrants due to its proximity to the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, 34 Syrians were nabbed in a minibus as they were heading to the district to illegally travel to Greece. The migrants will be transferred to refugee camps in southern Turkey while the Turkish driver of the minibus was detained on suspicion of human smuggling.

In the southern province of Antalya's Kaş district, Coast Guard officers acting on a tip-off found 11 Syrian migrants including six children aboard a fisherman's boat as they were attempting to sail to the Greek island of Megisti in the early hours of yesterday.

Turkey is a major transit point for refugees looking to reach Europe. According to figures from the Coast Guard, more than 60,000 people were intercepted on the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas this year and at least 130 people died when their boats capsized and sank. In the Aegean Sea, 1,361 refugees were intercepted by the Coast Guard over the past four days alone. Most migrants were intercepted in Ayvacık. Only one smuggler was captured by security forces according to the latest figures for the same period. Smugglers often abandon refugees to their fate once they depart the coast in dinghies and evade escape. Refugees also often fall victim to smugglers conning them out of what little money they have on them.