Over 450 undocumented migrants held in Turkey

By Cihan Demirci, Salih Baran, and Gultekin Yetgin

EDIRNE, Turkey

A total of 463 undocumented migrants were held on Friday in separate operations across Turkey, security officials said.

During an operation by the Turkish army and gendarmerie in the northwestern border province of Edirne, 336 migrants, mainly from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Syria, and Iran, were held, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

In a separate operation in the province's Meric district, 25 irregular migrants from Myanmar, Eritrea, Syria, and Afghanistan were held in a minibus while allegedly trying to cross into Greece.

Also, two inflatable boats were seized in the minibus, and the driver B.A. was remanded in custody, the source added.

In another incident, a Syrian-origin pickup truck driver was stopped in the Uzunkopru district allegedly trying to cross the border. The driver was held while other three people in his car were remanded in custody by a court.

Seventeen Syrian nationals were held in a separate operation in Uzunkopru. The driver was remanded in custody, the source added.

Also in the northwestern province of Tekirdag, two Iraqi-origin irregular migrants hiding in the back of a truck were held, according to another security source. The driver, who was traveling from Yalova to Tekirdag, stopped driving after hearing some noises from the back of the truck, the source added.

At least 82 others were held in the northeastern Giresun province, when police stopped a bus full of Afghan, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Bangladesh migrants who illegally came to Turkey, the governor's office said in a statement.

All the migrants were sent to the provinces' migration departments.