Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi: The stray animal issue will be off the agenda by the end of October

Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi made new statements regarding efforts concerning stray animals. Evaluating the agenda on TGRT Haber, Çiftçi stated that collection efforts have reached the final stage in 27 out of 30 metropolitan cities.

Stating that work is ongoing in Istanbul, Izmir, and Diyarbakır, Çiftçi said, "As of the end of October, we will have saved Turkey from this problem as well. In 1.5 months, the stray animal issue will be off the agenda."

Minister Çiftçi also announced that 1,568 operations have been conducted against 557 criminal organizations since the beginning of the year as part of the fight against organized crime. Çiftçi said that criminals will be caught and brought to justice wherever they are.

"ONE IN EVERY TWO ACCIDENTS INVOLVES MOTORCYCLES"

Touching upon prison occupancy, Çiftçi stated that there are 434 thousand people in open and closed prisons in Turkey, and that 35 percent of those in prisons are convicted or detained for drug-related crimes.

Noting that a motorcycle action plan has been prepared regarding traffic accidents, Çiftçi recorded that there are 35 million vehicles in the country, 1.2 million of which are motorcycles. Çiftçi said that one in every two accidents is motorcycle-related, and 16 percent of these accidents are caused by couriers.

Çiftçi also announced that 2 thousand residences will be built for police officers in Ankara. He stated that priority in applications will be given to police officers who do not own a home, whose spouses do not work, and who have school-age children.