Turkey Targets 'New Generation' Crime Groups, Minister Says

Turkey is intensifying its fight against organized crime, with Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi identifying "new generation" crime organizations as the primary threat. These groups, which operate differently from traditional mafias, often use virtual media for communication and recruitment, making them harder to track.

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The biggest threat we place first in our threat assessment as the Ministry of Interior are organized crime gangs, what we call new generation crime organizations.

Çiftçi stated that the Interior Ministry has conducted 1,272 operations against 478 "new generation" crime organizations, aiming to incapacitate them. He emphasized a zero-tolerance policy, vowing to pursue offenders relentlessly, including those who have fled abroad. The ministry is collaborating with the Ministry of Justice to secure the extradition of fugitives and plans to issue red notices for 307 individuals implicated in these organizations.

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We will go after them to the end, whoever they may be. There are those who fled abroad, but our pursuit continues abroad.

Beyond combating organized crime, the ministry is addressing the needs of police officers. Recognizing the high cost of living in Istanbul, Minister Çiftçi announced a directive to prioritize the purchase of housing for police officers over new vehicle acquisitions. The ministry plans to start by acquiring 600 housing units and is also working on adjusting police work hours to alleviate overtime burdens and potentially compensate officers for extra work.

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We are stopping vehicle purchases this year to buy housing. We will start with 600 housing units as a beginning.

Regarding Syrian refugees in Turkey, Çiftçi clarified that the number of Syrians in the country is 2.245 million, with 1.5 million having returned to their home country. He noted that approximately a thousand Syrians return daily and refuted earlier inflated figures. The current policy does not encourage further departures, with groups like Afghans filling labor needs, such as in shepherding, that Turkish citizens are not meeting.

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There are 2.245 million Syrians in Turkey. 1.5 million Syrians have returned to their country. On average, a thousand Syrians return to their country daily.