Over 4,400 fugitives nabbed across country, says minister

ANKARA

More than 4,400 fugitives wanted for various crimes were captured in operations conducted across Türkiye over the past five days, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on July 12.

Yerlikaya shared the news on his X account, highlighting that the operations spanned all 81 provinces.

The minister said 4,436 of those apprehended had been on the run for up to five years, 19 for five to 10 years and 11 for more than 10 years.

"These individuals were caught during road searches, raids on homes and workplaces and identity checks," he informed.

Some 718 were wanted for narcotics offenses, 691 for theft, 434 for smuggling and organized crime, 383 for fraud, 159 for looting, 116 for sexual crimes, 85 for terrorism and 79 for intentional homicide.

"I want our beloved nation to know that we will never allow fugitive criminals to roam our streets. We did not and will not allow them to disturb the peace of our families," the minister wrote in his post.

The operations saw the participation of police, gendarmerie and coast guard teams. Yerlikaya expressed his gratitude to the city governors, district governors and law enforcement officers and shared images of the raids.

The operation marks the 19th in a series of efforts to apprehend fugitives wanted for various crimes.

Yerlikaya has long said efforts have been particularly focused on targeting both domestic and international gangs operating within Türkiye.

Security forces had dismantled a total of 585 organized crime syndicates within a year, leading to the detention of thousands of suspects, the minister noted during a briefing last month.

Since assuming office roughly a year ago, he reported, around 14,000 operations resulted in the arrest of 3,891 individuals and the seizure of assets worth 106 billion Turkish liras.

Yerlikaya backs the continuous dissemination of law enforcement operations on social media platforms, rebuffing criticisms from some MPs who argue that such posts intimidate people, especially tourists.

"We are doing these not to put on a show, but to show the struggle... At the end of the day, it also acts as a deterrent," he said during a parliamentary event in May.