Turkey captures 190 migrants in three separate incidents

Some 113 migrants consisting of Afghans and Syrians were captured in an operation by the Turkish Coast Guard May 14 off the coast of the Ayvacık district in the northwestern Çanakkale province. The migrants were trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on a boat. 

The migrants were sent to the Ayvacık Security Directorate Foreigners Deportation Center after their legal procedures were completed.

Meanwhile, 60 migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq were caught May 14 in the Avcılar district of Istanbul, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Some eight people who allegedly plotted the human trafficking were arrested by the Istanbul police.

The Istanbul police department said in a statement that a bus and three cars were stopped after police cars pursued four suspect vehicles for a short while. Sixty migrants were caught and eight others were arrested on charges of organizing human trafficking.

In a separate incident, 17 migrants of Syrian and Iraqi origins were caught May 14 in the northwestern province of Edirne en route to Europe, Doğan News Agency reported. 

Police in Edirne stopped a car with a license plate number of 41, which is the official plate number of the western province of Kocaeli, while they were patrolling a neighborhood and caught 17 migrants. The migrants were trying to illegally reach Europe. The driver of the car was arrested and all the migrants were sent to the Edirne Security Directorate Foreign Affairs.

Turkey has had a rising toll of migrants attempting to use the country as a transition point to reach Europe. On May 9-10, 239 migrants were captured, while 122 others were captured on May 11.