Turkey arrests over 2,000 irregular migrants, 80 smugglers in nationwide operation

Turkey's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has announced the arrest of 80 smuggling organizers and the apprehension of 2,155 irregular migrants in a series of operations conducted across 27 provinces within the first four days of the new year.

The operations – led by the collaborative efforts of police, gendarmerie and Coast Guard teams – targeted 57 different addresses spread across 27 cities, including major urban centers such as Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir.

Of the smuggling organizers, six have been formally arrested, while judicial control decisions have been imposed on four others. Legal proceedings against the remaining are currently underway, the minister said on Jan. 8.

"We will never give an opportunity to human traffickers who deceive people through hope mongering, drag thousands of people to death on migration routes and try to turn our country into a target and transit route for irregular migration," Yerlikaya wrote on X.

"Our fight against migrant smuggling will continue uninterruptedly with determination."