Turkish security forces intercepted 113 Iraqi would-be immigrants and busted a 12-man people smuggling ring Thursday in the eastern province of Bitlis, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Acting on a tip-off, paramilitary gendarmerie troops rounded up the immigrant group in the province's Adilcevaz town where they arrived after crossing Lake Van in boats, the agency said.
The immigrants told Turkish authorities that they had entered Turkey illegally via Iran and were planning to travel to Istanbul and then sneak into Europe.
Acting on the group's testimony, security forces detained 12 men who extorted money from the immigrants to help them reach European countries.
The detainees included village aldermen and several so-called village guards, local Kurdish militia armed and paid by the Ankara government to help its fight against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels fighting for Kurdish self-rule in Turkey's southeast, Anatolia said.
The immigrants accused the detainees of forcefully extracting money from them in addition to collecting 850 dollars per person for their trip from Iraq to Istanbul and a sum of between 2,000 and 10,000 dollars for their planned journey to Europe, Anatolia added.
Turkey is a major transit route for Asian and African immigrants trying to reach western Europe overland or by boat – ANKARA (AFP)
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