Turkey secures borders to prevent irregular migration

Turkey has significantly ramped up efforts to secure its eastern borders to prevent irregular migration.

A Turkish soldier stands guard at the Turkish-Iranian border with a puppy to keep him company.

Turkey is currently hosting about 4 million refugees. Among the new security measures on its eastern border, Turkey is building a wall along parts of the 300-kilometer (186-mile) border with Iran.

Soldiers overlook the building of the wall in the eastern Van province, Turkey, Aug. 12, 2021.

Afghans are believed to be the second-largest refugee community after Syrians.

A view of the wall being built in Van, Turkey, Aug. 12, 2021.

Turkey has been a key transit point for asylum-seekers attempting to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

An aerial view of the wall that separates Turkey and Iran, in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

Concerns have risen over a possible spike in refugees from Afghanistan due to the U.S. pullout from the country after two decades and the following surge of Taliban attacks.

Gendarmerie officers assist four Afghan migrants out of the trunk of a smuggler's car that was transporting a total of 14 people during a roadside raid in Van, Turkey, July 6, 2021.

A Turkish commando stands guard near a wall on the border between Turkey and Iran in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021. (REUTERS/Murad Sezer)

Turkish security forces apprehend a group of migrants in an operation aimed at stemming the recent influx of migration, mainly coming from Afghanistan and stopping human trafficking operations in the area at the border province of Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

Migrants play soccer at a repatriation center in the border city of Van, Turkey, Aug. 22, 2021.

A sign warning about mines is seen on the Turkish-Iranian border in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

A Turkish gendarmerie mine expert searches the Turkish-Iranian border for explosives, in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

Reyhan Mirzai, a 4-year-old Afghan migrant girl, apprehended by Turkish security forces after crossing illegally into Turkey from Iran with her family, gets a medical check at a migrant processing center in the border city of Van, Turkey, Aug. 22, 2021.

A Turkish coast guard boat returns from a patrol at Lake Van in the border city of Van, Turkey, Aug. 22, 2021.

A mine expert searches as Turkish soldiers patrol the border wall that separates Turkey and Iran, in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

The wall on the border line between Turkey and Iran is pictured from a military helicopter in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

Turkish commandos, with a wall on the border between Turkey and Iran in the background, stand near a military post in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

A wall on the border between Turkey and Iran is seen behind a military post in Çaldıran in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

A Turkish soldier, with Iranian soldiers in the background, stands guard on the Turkish-Iranian border in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

A Turkish gendarmerie mine expert searches for explosives on the Turkish-Iranian border in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

Turkish soldiers in armored military vehicles patrol along the wall on the border between Turkey and Iran in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

A Turkish soldier searches the area using a night vision camera during a patrol on the Turkish-Iranian border in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

A member of Turkish police special forces stands guard at a military post in Çaldıran on the Turkish-Iranian border in Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

Migrants, mainly from Afghanistan, are seen after they were detained by Turkish security forces during an operation in the border city of Van, Turkey, Aug. 21, 2021.

A steel gate with a window view of Iran in a newly completed section of Turkey's border wall with Iran, July 10, 2021.