17 October 2017•Update: 17 October 2017
By Ramazan Ercan, Hakan Mehmet Sahin and Huseyin Yildiz
ISTANBUL
More than 150 migrants were detained during separate anti-trafficking operations in four different Turkish provinces Tuesday, according to officials.
In the Aegean province of Izmir, 53 migrants were held as they attempted to reach Greek islands, a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.
The group of mostly Afghan and Syrian nationals were on a boat off Dikili district when coast guards apprehended them, the source said.
In northwestern Edirne province, 24 others were detained when security personnel stopped a minivan full of Pakistani migrants.
A local court later remanded in custody the minivan driver for trafficking.
In another operation in Balikesir province’s Ayvalik district, 56 Syrian refugees, including 20 children, were held. They were on a boat set for Greek islands, the regional governor's office said in a statement.
Also, in southern Hatay province's Kirikhan district, 36 migrants who illegally came to Turkey from Iraq and Syria were arrested.
They were found in a minivan, the driver of which was arrested on human trafficking charges.
All detained migrants were sent to regional immigration departments.
So far, hundreds of thousands of people have made short but perilous journeys across the Aegean to reach northern and western Europe.
Nearly 2,000 refugees cross into Greek islands every month, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
Hundreds of people have died at sea as a number of boats carrying refugees sank. The Turkish Coast Guard has rescued thousands.
