Turkish Coast Guard Command said on its website that coast guard teams rescued the asylum seekers from rubber boats off the coast of Turkey’s southwestern Izmir, Muğla and Çanakkale provinces.

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

The rescued migrants were referred to the provincial migration offices, the statement said.

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 becoming a significant 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)