Turkey admits that 60 migrants may have died in a shipwreck in Lake Van
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced on Wednesday that the boat that sank in a storm on Lake Van in eastern Turkey on June 27 could be carrying 55 to 60 migrants, noting that only six bodies have been recovered so far. Soylu also said that the authorities had arrested 11 people in connection with the incident, according to local media reports.
Turkey launched a search-and-rescue operation, using helicopters and boats, after learning that a boat had gone missing on Lake Van, the largest lake in the Eurasian nation, located on the country's eastern border. The interior minister - who traveled to Van to oversee the operation - said search and rescue operations are continuing.
The TV station HaberTurk has reported that the migrants could be from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. Last December, seven people were killed and 64 others were rescued when a migrant boat capsized on the same lake, which is near the border with Iran and is a common transit point used by migrants to cross into Turkey on their way to Europe.
In recent years, Europe has faced the most serious migration challenge since the end of the Second World War. The old continent has become the place of refuge for thousands and thousands of people who want to escape from conflict, terrorism or persecution. Turkey, which hosts some 3.7 million Syrian refugees, is one of the main crossing points for migrants on their way to Europe.
Between 2015 and 2016, hundreds of people arrived in Greece from Turkey, while in 2018, 16,647 people reached Europe by sea. The numbers were drastically reduced under an agreement signed in 2016 between the European Union and the Eurasian nation. However, last March Erdogan decided to open the borders arguing that the European Union had not fulfilled its promise to assist the 3.6 million Syrian refugees that it is hosting. The Turkish leader explained that he had taken this decision because Turkey could no longer cope with the large number of migrants arriving in the country fleeing the war in Syria. Since then, the Greek authorities have moved almost 14,000 migrants and refugees from the Aegean islands to the continental area.
The Turkish Interior Minister made these statements several hours after announcing that at least 67 people had been arrested in the country's counter-narcotics operation, defined as "the largest operation in the country's history". The operation was carried out in eleven provinces of Turkey and began almost two months ago.
