LOC00:35
21:35 GMT
ANKARA, Jan 7 (KUNA) -- Turkish gendarmerie forces had arrested 36 illegal immigrants who were trying to illegally cross the Aegean Sea to the Greek islands.
The Anadolu news agency reported that all the captured immigrants, who includes women and children, were from Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Turkish border guards apprehended 44 Syrians for illegally crossing the borders into Turkey.
Turkey has been the main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since the beginning of the civil war in Syria.
Some 270,000 migrants were held in Turkey in 2018, according to statistics of the Turkish Interior Ministry.
The migrants were mostly Afghan, Pakistani, Syrian and Iraqi nationals. (end)
rs.ibi