Interior minister vows crackdown on organized crime

ANKARA

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has reaffirmed his commitment to eradicating criminal organizations and bolstering the nation's security.

The minister provided an overview of his department's recent efforts in combating crime, drug trafficking, irregular migration and cybercrime while speaking during a press briefing held in the capital Ankara on Sept. 13.

Over the past three months since he assumed office, Yerlikaya announced that a total of 1,767 suspects had been detained as a result of 92 operations conducted against organized crime groups, with 430 of them subsequently arrested.

"We will never tolerate organized crime organizations and mafia-like structures," he stated. "Our goal is to make Türkiye the safest country in the world and its cities the safest cities in the world."

One of his key objectives is to transform Türkiye into a region that is inaccessible and off-limits to drug traffickers, Yerlikaya said, equating drug-related crimes to terrorism. In the last 90 days, authorities have detained 66,013 suspects in 53,929 drug-related operations, leading to the arrest of 5,966 individuals, he informed.

Addressing the issue of irregular migration and human smuggling, the minister reported that 75,442 irregular migrants had been apprehended during 1,285 operations across the country. Out of this total, 32,563 were deported, and the process for the remaining is ongoing. Notably, since the onset of these operations, 89,396 foreigners whose visas or residence permits had expired left Türkiye voluntarily, he added.

Responding to concerns about the accuracy of data related to irregular migration, Yerlikaya denied the figures circulating over social media but refrained from disclosing specific numbers.

In the realm of cybercrime, the minister highlighted efforts against new criminal trends. A staggering 56,958 social media accounts were subjected to action within the past 90 days, he said.

Yerlikaya expressed concern over the prevalence of automated bot accounts, revealing that nearly 30 percent of the 3.5 billion social media shares made by 93.1 million accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter, were generated by them.

Additionally, he provided an update on counterterrorism efforts, noting that 43,490 operations had been executed within the past three months, leading to the neutralization of 258 terrorists. These operations also thwarted 44 planned actions, including 37 bomb attacks.