UPDATE - 88 irregular migrants held across Turkey

UPDATES WITH MORE IRREGULAR MIGRANTS HELD; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Ozgun Tiran, Sabri Kesen, and Erol Yildiz

KIRKLARELI / MUGLA/ TOKAT, Turkey (AA) - At least 88 irregular migrants were held across Turkey, security sources said on Wednesday.

Police teams in the Niksar district of northern Tokat province stopped a truck that entered Turkey from Iran and was going to Istanbul.

The teams held 69 migrants of Afghan and Pakistani nationals, including three women, who were hiding under hay bales in the truck, said a source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

While the truck driver was arrested by the police, irregular migrants were referred to the provincial migration office.

Meanwhile, 11 irregular migrants pushed back into Turkish territorial waters by Greek authorities were rescued off Marmaris district in Turkey’s western Mugla province, said authorities.

After receiving information that there was a group of irregular migrants in a lifeboat off the coast of Marmaris, Turkish Coast Guard units rescued all on board.

The migrants were referred to the migration office in Mugla.

Separately, the anti-smuggling and organized crime unit in the Kirklareli province, which borders Bulgaria, held eight irregular migrants of Moroccan, Algerian, and Lebanese nationalities in a park at the province's center, said a source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

A woman migrant, eight months pregnant, was taken to Kirklareli Training and Research Hospital for a health checkup.

Other irregular migrants were then referred to the provincial migration office.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev and Burak Dag in Ankara