Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Wednesday that 1,222 irregular migrants were intercepted in the past three days in nationwide operations.
"Operation Shield" carried out in Türkiye’s border regions also led to the capture of 82 migrant smugglers by gendarmerie and police.
Yerlikaya said in a social media post that security forces employed unmanned aerial vehicles and gyrocopters in tracking down migrants and smugglers in 62 operations. He said 63 migrant smugglers were remanded in custody.
"We will not allow human traffickers who try to make our country a destination of irregular migration and a transit route for irregular migrants," Yerlikaya said in his statement, accompanied by a video of operations, including images of irregular migrants forced to turn back from the Turkish border when confronted by security forces.
Irregular migration is a headache for Türkiye, which lies between Asia and Europe. Every year, thousands arrive in the country, either to stay illegally or to cross into Europe secretly. Türkiye 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 earlier. Data shared by the ministry revealed that this was the highest number of deportations in Türkiye’s history, up 161% compared to 2021.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced earlier this year that measures against irregular migration would be tightened in the upcoming period.
"Measures against irregular migration will be tightened in the upcoming period," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said recently as public sentiment on refugees and migrants in Türkiye shifted.
"Our citizens will soon witness tangible changes in irregular migration. Our security forces have tightened measures and work," Erdoğan told journalists in July. "The fight against irregular migration never stopped. Many steps will be implemented in the works of police as well as border security. It is imperative that these migrants are prevented from entering Türkiye and that those who are apprehended are taken to shelters or migrant centers," Erdoğan continued, underlining the importance of preventing entries from northern Syria.
"As soon as illegal migrants are apprehended, they are sent to repatriation centers and necessary actions are initiated there. They are sent to their countries, and through this, we eliminate anxiety and fear of our people."
Yerlikaya said in October that irregular migrants were searching for new routes due to Türkiye’s firm determination to stop them. "We have intelligence data, reports from source countries of irregular migration that shows smugglers advise migrants not to travel through Türkiye, citing our intense fieldwork to stop the migration," he said back then.
"Migrants themselves pay smugglers to find them a new route instead of Türkiye," he added. The minister stated that they intercepted 112,404 irregular migrants since he took office 120 days ago, and 48,339 among them were deported to their countries of origin while the process was underway for the rest. "Our tightened inspections in Istanbul – Türkiye’s most populated city, which also attracts a large number of irregular migrants – led 120,531 foreigners whose visa exemption or residence permits expired to leave the country alone," he said.
He noted that another 80,946 irregular migrants were prevented from entering Türkiye thanks to the work of border guards. The minister said a total of 10,642 irregular migrants were deported in Istanbul alone within the past 120 days, and they detained 451 suspects in operations against migrant smugglers. Some 94 among them were remanded in custody, he added. Türkiye carried out 2,397 operations against irregular migration in the past 120 days.