In 8 separate operations carried out by anti-smuggling police and border teams, 11 suspects were taken into custody for allegedly smuggling undocumented immigrants.

Of those, 7 persons were arrested by court, while 4 others were released pending a trial.

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 21,473 irregular migrants in 2021, up from 19368 in 2020. (ILKHA)