Ankara: Turkish authorities have detained 55 migrant smuggling organizers, including nine foreign nationals, as well as 972 irregular migrants during nationwide inspections conducted across all 81 provinces, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Yerlikaya shared on X that the inspections are part of Trkiye's ongoing efforts to tackle irregular migration and migrant smuggling. The operations involved identity checks of 431,446 individuals, with the participation of over 28,000 personnel. These personnel were organized into 9,000 teams, deployed at numerous locations across the country.

Yerlikaya emphasized that the purpose of the operations was to facilitate the return of identified irregular migrants to their countries of origin.