ANKARA

A total of 63 irregular migrants were held in the Turkish capital Ankara, security sources said on Saturday.

Provincial police teams carried out an operation in the Golbasi district, and the migrants, all of them Afghan nationals, and two others were rounded up. Their deportation process is underway.

Turkey has been a main route for irregular migrants trying to cross into Europe, especially since 2011, when Syria's civil war began.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar