Turkey detains over 2,500 illegal border passers

Turkish security forces have detained a total of 2,553 people over illegal border passing, the military said on Saturday.

The Turkish General Staff said in a statement that 2,488 people were captured Friday while attempting to cross into Turkey from Syria, two others from Greece, and another from Iraq.

Border forces also detained 61 others while they attempted to illegally enter Greece and one into Syria, it added.

There were no details on the nationalities of the detainees. Turkey has enhanced its security measures on border areas in recent months, building security walls along its borders with Syria and Iran, to combat smuggling and illegal border passing.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)