More than 2,200 illegal migrants stopped last week

At least 2,244 illegal migrants were stopped across Turkey over the past week.

As many as 838 migrants were caught in multiple operations carried out by gendarmerie forces in Edirne, a northwestern province that borders Greece and Bulgaria. Likewise in the northwestern provinces of Kırklareli and Tekirdağ, a total of 130 migrants are being held by gendarmerie forces. In the eastern provinces of Van and Siirt, a total of 83 migrants have been held by police and gendarmerie forces over the past week.

In the coastal provinces of Çanakkale, Balıkesir, Aydın, İzmir and Muğla, the Turkish Coast Guard and gendarmerie forces rounded up a total of 878 migrants trying to cross to Europe through Greece. Moreover, some 169 illegal migrants were also held by police and gendarmerie forces in the southern province of Adana.

Separately, border forces in the southern Hatay province caught 140 migrants reportedly entering Turkey from Syria through illegal means. A total of six migrants are being held by police in the central Anatolian province of Çankırı. The migrants included Pakistani, Congolese, Syrian, Iraqi, Afghan, Egyptian, Bangladeshi, Senegalese, Central African, Algerian, Moroccan, Tunisian, Somali, Libyan, Togo, Cameroonian and Palestinian nationals. All of the migrants being held during the week were either taken to the hospital for medical care or were transferred to provincial migration offices.