Over 80 undocumented migrants held in Turkey

By Cihan Demirci, Erdal Turkoglu and Durmus Genc

EDIRNE/HATAY/MUGLA, Turkey (AA) - At least 84 undocumented migrants and 25 alleged human traffickers were held on Tuesday in Turkey, according to security officials.

In northwestern Edirne province’s Ipsala district, 25 Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals were rounded up from a minibus, as they attempted to cross into Europe illegally, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

During the operation an inflatable boat was also seized, the source added.

Turkish security forces also held 16 Syrian refugees who were trying to illegally enter Turkey, including women and children, in southern Hatay province’s Yayladagi district, another security source said.

Gendarmerie forces rounded up 10 foreign nationals from a bus which they stopped in eastern Van province, according to a statement from the province's gendarmerie command.

In southern Mugla province, coast guards detained 31 Syrian nationals, including women and children, as they were trying to illegally cross into Europe via the Aegean Sea, offshore Bodrum.

In another Mugla-based anti-human trafficking operation, security forces detained 13 suspects including two foreign nationals.

Separately, 12 others were detained for human trafficking, as they attempt to illegally take 168 Syrian, Iranian, Iraqi, Afghan and Pakistani nationals abroad.

Turkey has been a main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, since especially the beginning of the civil war in Syria.