UPDATE - Over 300 irregular migrants held across Turkey: Security sources

ADDS ANOTHER OPERATION AGAINST IRREGULAR MIGRANTS

By Cuma Sari and Lale Koklu Karagoz

SANLIURFA, Turkey (AA) – At least 315 irregular migrants were held across Turkey, security sources said on Wednesday.

Some 87 migrants, mainly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, were hiding inside a truck in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, said the sources who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Turkish gendarmerie teams in Siverek district were tipped off that a group of foreign nationals will be dispatched to western provinces by trucks.

The truck carrying the migrants was stopped by security forces on the Siverek-Diyarbakir Highway.

The driver was arrested, while the migrants were referred to the provincial migration office.

Meanwhile, 228 Syrian nationals who were found to have entered the country through illegal means were caught in the southern Hatay province that borders Syria.

Provincial anti-migrant smuggling police branch teams conducted raids after learning that four people, identified by the initials C.B.Y, S.Y, A.S., and A.C., residing in the Antakya district were hiding irregular migrants in their homes.

As a result, 228 Syrian nationals were held.

It was learned that the Syrian nationals will be deported after procedures at the provincial immigration office.

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 Handan Kazanci and Jeyhun Aliiyev from Ankara