“On 03 October 2020 at 04:24 a.m., it was reported that there was a group of irregular migrants on an inflatable boat off the coast of Çanakkale province. The sailing inflatable boat was intercepted and 144 irregular migrants and 1 human smuggler on the boat were apprehended by CG boat,” Turkish Coast Guard Command said in statement.

Turkey has traditionally been a major transit port for irregular immigrants to enter the European countries.

According to the official reports, 454,662 irregular migrants held across the country in 2019. (ILKHA)