Man captured with rifles at Syrian border: Turkish General Staff

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Cihan Photo

A man who was attempting to illegally cross into Turkey from Syria has been captured with two Kalashnikov rifles, the Turkish General Staff said May 16.

Turkish General Staff said in an online statement a Syrian man was captured along with two Kalashnikov rifles while attempting to infiltrate Turkey.

Border patrols of Çiçekalan in the southeastern border province of Şanlıurfa spotted a man trying to illegally cross into Turkey from Syria with a bag. They captured the man as he attempted to escape, disregarding the warnings to stop.

The two Kalashnikov rifles with ammunition and a pistol with bullets inside the bag were seized. The Syrian man and all the ammunitions captured were sent to the Suruç Gendarmerie Command and an investigation was launched into the incident.

Turkey has a rising toll in migrant attempts to use the country as a transition point to reach European countries. A total of 229 migrants were captured in different provinces over the weekend. 

The Turkish Coast Guard saved 50 Syrian migrants from drowning off the coast of Turkey’s Aegean province of Muğla in the Bodrum district en route to Europe on May 17. On the same day, in Marmaris, a different district of Muğla, the gendarmerie caught 47 Syrian migrants, including 13 children and five women, inside two minibuses, who were planning on illegally going to a Greek island. 

On May 16, gendarmerie forces captured 84 migrants who attempted to illegally cross the Turkish border when patrolling several villages in the western province of Edirne. Gendarmerie operating in the Ayvacık district of the northwestern province of Çanakkale captured 48 other migrants. All migrants captured were sent to local deportation centers after their legal procedures were completed.