Turkish Coast Guard Command said on its website that coast guard teams rescued at least 68 asylum seekers from rubber boats in three separate incidents off the coasts of Çanakkale, Balıkesir, and Muğla provinces.

According to the statement, the boats carrying irregular migrants were pushed back to Turkish territorial waters by Greek Coast Guard forces.

Historically, Turkey has been a country of origin, transit, and destination for migrants and was a crossroads between Europe and Asia.

Recent regional events have contributed to Turkey increasingly becoming a major destination and transit country for those fleeing conflict, poverty, and disasters.

Turkey hosts one of the largest migrant and refugee populations in the world with 4 million refugees and asylum-seekers in the country, including over 3.7 million Syrians under temporary protection and over 330,000 international protection status holders and asylum-seekers of other nationalities.

According to the official reports, the Turkish coast guard intercepted 21473 irregular migrants in 2021, up from 19368 in 2020. (ILKHA)