The Turkish coast guard intercepted over 310 irregular migrants as they tried to cross the Aegean Sea between Türkiye and Greece, a security source said Wednesday.

A total of 106 irregular migrants from Afghanistan who were pushed back by Greece were rescued off the coast of Ayvacık district in the northwestern province of Çanakkale. Coast guard teams caught 20 irregular migrants trying to cross illegally in rubber boats off the coast of the Bodrum district in southwestern Muğla province, the Turkish Coast Guard Command said in a statement.

Meanwhile, teams rescued 47 irregular migrants who were pushed into Turkish territorial waters off the coast of Bodrum by Greek elements, the Coast Guard Command also said.

The Turkish Coast Guard Command said its teams also caught 31 migrants trying to cross illegally off the coast of the Çeşme district in western Izmir province. Teams also rescued 73 irregular immigrants who were pushed into Turkish territorial waters by Greek elements off the coasts of Seferihisar and Dikili districts in Izmir. Coast guard teams nabbed 39 irregular migrants trying to cross illegally in rubber boats off the coast of Kuşadası district in western Aydın province, the Coast Guard Command said in a separate statement. All the migrants were taken to provincial migration offices.

Türkiye has been a key transit point for irregular migrants wanting to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution. Türkiye and global rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practice of pushing back irregular migrants, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children.

The country deported a total of 124,441 irregular migrants and facilitated the voluntary return of 58,758 Syrians to the safe zones in northern Syria last year, the Interior Ministry announced in January.

This was the highest number of deportations in Türkiye’s history, up by some 161% compared to 2021. Recent figures brought the number of irregular migrants deported since 2016 to 449,326, data shared by the ministry revealed.