Journal of Turkish Weekly
Dec 16 2004

There are 1 Million Illegal-Immigrants in Turkey

Every year 250.000-300.000 immigrants enter Turkey… It is estimated
about 50.000 Armenians for instance work in Istanbul illegally.

Jan Soykok, JTW (Ankara
16 December 2004

According to the ILO reports there are about 1 million illegal
foreign immigrants in Turkey. Every year 250.000-300.000 immigrants
enter Turkey and half of them stay in the country while the rest of
them go to Europe and other places. Most of the immigrants come from
Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Romania, Ukraine, Russian
Federation and Georgia. Moreover thousands of foreigners come to
Turkey work illegally. It is estimated about 50.000 Armenians for
instance work in Istanbul illegally.

Police can only capture half of the illegal immigrants. Turkish
experts argue that Turkey cannot deal with this issue without
international co-operation. Dr. Mehmet Ozcan told the JTW that “this
is a common problem for Turkey, neighboring countries and the EU. So
all these states have to deal with this issue. Otherwise not only
Turkey but also the EU states will face a formidable social,
political and economic problems.”