Türkiye says over 8,000 caught in border breach attempts since January VIDEO

Türkiye’s Defence Ministry has reported that more than 8,000 people have been detained while attempting to cross the country’s borders illegally since the beginning of 2025.

Ministry spokesman Rear Admiral Zeki Aktürk said that Turkish forces continue operations to ensure security both within Türkiye and beyond its borders, Caliber.Az reports.

Türk Silahlı Kuvvetlerimizin kalıcı güvenliği tesis etmek amacıyla 7 gün 24 saat esasıyla gerçekleştirdiği görev ve faaliyetleri kapsamında geçtiğimiz hafta içerisinde 4 PKK’lı terörist daha teslim oldu. #MillîSavunmaBakanlığı pic.twitter.com/k4qBSbocPQ

— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) November 6, 2025

These include efforts to locate and destroy caves, shelters, hideouts, mines and improvised explosive devices.

Aktürk said that four PKK militants surrendered to Turkish forces last week after fleeing their hideouts in northern Iraq. He added that operations targeting “tunnel destruction” in northern Syria have been ongoing since January 8, with the total length of tunnels demolished in Tel Rifaat and Manbij reaching 715 kilometres.

“In the past week alone, 96 people were detained, bringing the total number of those apprehended while attempting illegal border crossings since January 1 to 8,301,” Aktürk said. “Taking into account 1,038 others detained this week in different incidents, the total number of arrests this year has reached 56,638.”

The spokesman also noted that 102 kilogrammes of narcotics were seized during search operations along the borders of Van and Hakkari provinces this week.

By Aghakazim Guliyev