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The
interception near Turkey's western shores came as hundreds of
Afghans cross into eastern Turkey from Iran, after a rise in
violence in their own country as the United States and its NATO
allies withdraw and Taliban fighters seize territory.
Afghans have for years been crossing from Iran into Turkey, many
of them en route to Europe, but the number of detentions this
month has raised concerns about a new influx.
Officials said last week they had detained 1,500 irregular
migrants, most of them Afghans, near the Iranian border in the
previous 10 days.
The migrants intercepted in the Aegean were believed to be en
route to Italy, the coastguard official said. Of the 231
migrants on the boat, 208 were Afghans and others were from
Syria, Iran, Eritrea and Pakistan, the official added.
The coastguard detained two Turkish nationals steering the boat
and escorted migrants to a deportation centre in the western
Turkish town of Ayvacik.
President Tayyip Erdogan's government, already hosting 3.7
million Syrian refugees, wants to avoid another refugee wave,
and Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said two weeks ago that Turkey
was closely monitoring any influx of Afghan migrants.
Turkey is building a wall along a 64-km (40-mile) stretch of the
Iranian border in the eastern province of Van, where many of the
migrants cross.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR says there were over
100,000 Afghan asylum seekers in Turkey last year.
(Reporting by Yesim Dikmen, Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by
Dominic Evans and Timothy Heritage)
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