Interior Minister Yerlikaya's statement on terrorist organizations and 1 TL: 'There are three operations'

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya arrived in Aydın to attend the "Century of Turkey Meetings" program. Following his visits to the AK Party Provincial Headquarters and the Aydın Governorship, Minister Yerlikaya chaired a security meeting titled "Peace of Turkey." After the meeting, Minister Yerlikaya provided information to members of the press regarding the work carried out across Turkey and in Aydın.

"WE CONTINUE OUR STRUGGLE"

Stating that the Ministry of Interior works day and night for the safety of citizens, Minister Yerlikaya said, "If our cities are peaceful, Turkey is peaceful. Our noble nation is safe. In this sense, our struggle will continue under the leadership of our President without compromising our public order or the law. As the Ministry of Interior, we have been fighting tirelessly against terrorist organizations, organized crime groups, drug traffickers, and irregular migration and human smuggling organizers since June 4, 2023," he said.

ANNOUNCED OPERATION DATA

Stating that as the Ministry of Interior, they provide figures regarding the prevention of crimes and the reduction of incident numbers, Minister Yerlikaya said, "When we compare the first 8 months of 2024, from January 1 to August 31, with the same period in 2023 in Aydın, the number of incidents in ten major crimes committed against individuals has decreased by 11.2 percent. They have reduced the number of incidents in nine major crimes committed against property by 30.8 percent. Our clearance rate for ten major crimes committed against individuals is 95.8 percent. We have evaluated the reasons for our clearance rate in crimes against property being slightly behind the Turkey average at length.

In this period, the performance of our colleagues with 2,583 arrests is commendable. In Aydın, 878 people were caught and processed regarding unlicensed weapons in the first eight months of the year, and 652 weapons were seized. We have a preparation regarding making the penalty for unlicensed weapons more deterrent when our Parliament begins its work on October 1. We will see what point we will bring it to together with our Parliament.

Our police and gendarmerie are also fighting decisively in Aydın against organized crime, which we describe as urban bandits, meaning those who are arrogant about committing crimes. Our colleagues have carried out 14 operations here; 70 people were arrested, 51 were placed under judicial control, and 12 organized crime gangs were dismantled.

We will continue our work until there is not a single organized crime organization left in our city. Regarding terrorism, again in the first eight months of the year, 126 urban operations were conducted with 6 arrests and 95 under judicial control, and in 126 rural operations, 2 terrorists were neutralized alive.

We would also like to state that 49 operations were carried out regarding FETÖ, with 24 arrests and 40 under judicial control; 8 operations regarding the DAESH terrorist organization with one under judicial control; and 82 operations regarding leftist terrorist organizations with 72 under judicial control," he explained.

"FOR US, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 1 TL AND 1 MILLION LIRAS"

Making statements about the financing of terrorism in Aydın during his speech, Minister Yerlikaya said, "There are three operations regarding the financing of terrorism; there are no arrests yet, but there are tracked projects. For us, there is no difference between 1 TL and 1 million liras regarding the financing of terrorism. We are working to ensure that not even a single penny goes to terrorist organizations that lay traps for our unity, solidarity, and brotherhood.

In the fight against drugs, the total amount of drugs seized is 53 kilograms. The number of items seized is 15,527. The number of plants seized is 1,405. 223 operations were carried out regarding drug dealing and production, with 136 arrests and 44 under judicial control.

We would also like to state that there were 2,523 people regarding drug use, with 6 arrests and one under judicial control, totaling 142 arrests and 45 under judicial control. We are fighting on the supply front as the Ministry of Interior. At the same time, we are making efforts at our borders together with customs enforcement. The fight against drugs is a struggle that we must act upon with a spirit of social mobilization on the demand front. Our request from our citizens is to assist our security forces," he said.

"WE ARE DETERMINED NOT TO GIVE HUMAN SMUGGLERS A CHANCE"

In his statement regarding irregular migration, Minister Yerlikaya said, "There are 18,305 foreigners in Aydın with regular, meaning legal, right of stay. 8,332 of these are Syrian, 9,876 have residence permits, and 97 are under international protection. Again, we express at every opportunity that we are determined not to give human smugglers a chance. Across Turkey, we have reached the figure of 5,900 in arrests so far since June 4, 2023; in Aydın, this figure is 31 from the beginning of the year to today. We underlined this again with our colleagues because we have a sea border.

We would like to state that five of our 270 mobile migration vehicles are serving here, and for now, 12,572 foreigners have had their identity checks performed, and 258 irregular migrants have been identified and sent to removal centers to be deported.

Mobile migration vehicles entered service on July 19, 2023. We have 270 vehicles all over Turkey. To date, 1 million 578 thousand foreigners have had their identity checks performed with these vehicles. Approximately 139 thousand irregular migrants were identified in this way and sent to removal centers," he said.

Minister Yerlikaya announced that 202 operations were carried out regarding smuggling in Aydın, with 2 arrests and 9 under judicial control, and that a tax loss of 54.7 million dollars was prevented by the teams due to these.

"WORKING WITHOUT ITS LIGHTS GOING OUT"

Regarding cybercrimes, Minister Yerlikaya said, "Regarding cyber matters and virtual patrols, our Ministry of Interior's Cyber Department works day and night without its lights going out, and it is also working in Aydın. 554 accounts were examined regarding terrorism, with 172 detentions and 3 arrests; 36 operations were carried out regarding illegal betting and payments, with 130 detentions and 59 arrests; 38 operations were carried out regarding online child abuse, with 39 detentions, and their trials are ongoing," he stated.

News Source: İHA