ANKARA: Police arrested 11 suspects including two foreigners on Wednesday in an operation against migrant smugglers in southwestern Turkey. Suspects wanted for smuggling migrants from Syria and other Asian countries were captured in operations in Muğla and four other cities including Istanbul, İzmir, Hatay and Kocaeli.
Hatay is located on Turkey’s border with Syria while Kocaeli and Istanbul are among the initial destinations of refugees arriving in Turkey before traveling to the Aegean Coast to illegally cross to Greece.
Along with charges of smuggling, they were charged with negligent homicide due to the deaths of migrants traveling to the Greek islands from the coast, either due to traveling aboard faulty boats that set sail in bad weather or overcrowding.
