ISTANBUL, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu on Wednesday called on the European countries and the United States to contribute more to the solution of growing illegal immigration in the world and not leave Turkey alone in its struggle against migration-related terrorism and drug smuggling.
The minister argued that Turkey has become the principal center for refugees mainly from Afghanistan, Pakistan and some countries in Africa and the Middle East, who are creating growing problems for the country.
"We have been encountering a flood of migrants into our country," Soylu said at a press conference in Istanbul. "Turkey sometimes becomes a target country for them, but in other cases, a transit hub on their way to Europe."
In his view, along with the creation of different migration routes via Turkey toward Europe, various terror- and drug smuggling-related routes are also being formed.
"And it is not possible to distinguish one from another," the minister said, noting his country has been conducting a simultaneous struggle against all the problems on its own.
A migrant who intends to go to Europe could move on toward the West by paying tribute to either the Islamic State or the Kurdistan Workers' Party outlawed by Ankara, said Soylu.
For him, the indifference of the Western countries to the origin countries constitutes the most significant part of the problems.
"Europe is aware of the dilemma but afraid to face it. They only think about where exactly they could block refugees outside of their territories," he remarked.
Soylu argued that European countries had intended to use Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon as "refugee warehouses" until 2015, leaving the entire burden on their shoulders.
Only in 2016 did Turkey and the European Union ink a deal on curbing the flow of illegal migration into the continent via Turkey, he added.
The minister urged Western countries to take immediate measures to eliminate the factors that are triggering illegal immigration in the first place, including providing the necessary security elements, food, water, medication and education.
Turkey is hosting some 3.6 million Syrian refugees on its land as opposed to 1 million in entire Europe, a burden growing for a country beset by a flagging economy.
The Turkish authorities launched a campaign last month in a move to clear the country's biggest city of Istanbul of non-documented Syrian refugees.
The Syrians who were registered somewhere else in Turkey were asked to leave the city and return to their places of registration by Oct. 30, extended from the original deadline of Aug. 20.
"Similar cautions would be taken for the capital Ankara and the northwestern province of Bursa as they have been overcrowded as much as Istanbul," the minister said.
According to figures unveiled by Soylu, a total of 175,000 illegal immigrants were captured in 2017 across the country, but the figure went up to 268,000 in 2018 and 211,000 so far this year.
"Our simulation for this year is 305,000 refugees," Soylu said, laying emphasis on the gravity of the situation.
In addition, Turkey has been suffering from the inflow of Afghan and Pakistani illegal immigrants from its eastern provinces of Agri, Igdir and Van, according to the minister.
"Last year alone, we caught over 100,000 Afghan immigrants," Soylu said, noting that since this year, the bodies of several dozens of Afghan children have been discovered in mountains in Van.
The cost for an illegal immigrant from Afghanistan to be smuggled into Turkey is generally around 1,500 U.S. dollars, the minister said, adding that the fee could go up to 2,000 dollars because of the severity of conditions or could fall to 1,000 dollars in case of more favorable circumstances.
He also blamed the U.S. inactivity in Afghanistan for the expansion of opium fields, saying the opium production there has increased to 9,000 tons this year, up from 200 tons at the beginning of 2000s when the United States first forced its presence in the country.
