Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced the deportation of 42,875 irregular immigrants between June 1 and September 22 of this year.
This came in response to journalists’ questions following a Turkish government meeting in the presidential complex in the capital, Ankara.
He pointed out that 97,363 irregular immigrants were arrested since he assumed his duties in early June until September 22.
He pointed out that 105,488 foreigners left the country whose visas and residency expired.
He stated that the previous numbers do not include cross-border infiltration attempts by the Ministry of Defense, which numbered 70,796.
Regarding the countries from which most irregular migrants come, the minister stated that they are coming across the Iranian border from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
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In this context, Yerlikaya reported that the Ministry of Interior will begin activating the application of mobile immigration offices throughout Turkey, starting next November 1.
He touched on the importance of the application by saying: “We will check people’s identities everywhere, including football matches. However, if we take a tourist or a foreigner who has a residence permit and does not have an identity card or a passport, we will not send him to the deportation centers. We succeeded in that through the application.” The experimental trial, which lasted 9 weeks in Istanbul.
He continued: “We need to move keeping in mind the zero error, because we are a tourist country.”
Regarding the workers in the mobile immigration offices, Yerlikaya said: “Our immigration experts and translators work at the center, who will provide communication with foreigners.”
In another context, Yerlikaya revealed a visit by Bulgarian Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov to Turkey on October 10.
He pointed to mutual cooperation between Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece to combat irregular migration by land and sea.
