Hatay Metropolitan Municipality teams conducted inspections across the city to prevent illegal activities and bring begging under control.
The Department of Municipal Police identified and imposed necessary sanctions on beggars, mostly foreign nationals coming from outside the city, who were exploiting the religious and spiritual sentiments of citizens who lost their relatives, especially following the February 6 earthquakes.
During the inspections, it was determined that the beggars had collected large amounts of money, and administrative fines were imposed.
HBB officials stated that beggars are trying to earn easy money by exploiting the public's religious sentiments after the earthquake disaster, and shared information that during the checks, some beggars had collected a significant amount of money, such as approximately 3,000 TL, in less than half a day.
Emphasizing that the public should not give money to such individuals, the officials stressed that the public needs to be made aware to prevent these groups who have turned begging into a profession, and that they will continue to carry out a determined struggle against those who exploit emotions.
News Source: İHA
