Turkish forces stop 1,300 illegal border crossings

More than 1,300 foreigners were detained trying to cross illegally into Turkey in one day, the military said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, 1,237 were stopped at the Syrian border, 51 at the frontier with Iran and 13 were arrested coming from Iraq, the General Staff said in a statement. The arrests led to the confiscation of 1,300 packets of cigarettes.

At the border with Greece, 22 people were arrested crossing into Turkey and 47 heading the opposite direction.

Turkey has enhanced its security measures along the Syrian border in recent months, building a 700-kilometer (435-mile) wall. A similar structure is planned for the frontier with Iran.