UPDATE 2 - 123 irregular migrants held in Turkey

REVISES HEADLINE, ADDS INFORMATION ON OPERATION IN AFYONKARAHISAR

By Muzaffer Cagliyaner, Safak Yel and Arif Yavuz

OSMANIYE/IZMIR /AFYONKARAHISAR, Turkey (AA) - A total of 123 irregular migrants were held in Turkey on Tuesday, according to security sources.

Ninety-one migrants, including children, were found hidden in three containers in a warehouse of a factory in Torbali district of Izmir province, said a source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Gendarmerie command teams acted on a tip that some containers in the warehouse will be used for illegal crossings and found foreign nationals hiding behind food parcels in the containers.

The migrants are said to be in good health.

The source said the containers were prepared to be sent to Italy.

Identification procedures for the irregular migrants were in progress, they said.

Police teams in southern Osmaniye province meanwhile caught an irregular migrant, a Syrian national who was deported once before, according to another source.

He was referred to the provincial migration office, the source added.

Separately, police teams in western Afyonkarahisar province held 31 irregular migrants.

Anti-smuggling police stopped two minibuses on the Afyonkarahisar-Kutahya highway out of suspicion, said the source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The migrants were transferred to the provincial migration office.

The drivers, who were taken to court, were arrested by the Peace Court of Criminal Jurisdiction on charges of smuggling migrants.

Turkey has been a key transit point for asylum seekers aiming to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

*Writing by Havva Kara Aydin