Three million new migrants may come to Turkey from Iran: Deputy PM

A fresh migration wave with three million migrants is currently in the phase of mobilization from Iran to Turkey, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak said March 26.

"According to information we got, there are around three million unauthorized migrants in Iran and they are in mobilization toward Turkey. Unfortunately, they are mostly Afghans again from the further east of Iran," Kaynak said in an interview with private broadcaster CNN Türk.

Kaynak also expressed Ankara's concern over Tehran's indifference for the migration to Turkey.

"We have such worry that it is like the Iranian state is disregarding their migration toward Turkey, not to say that they are assisting them," he said.

Kaynak said Turkish authorities also launched proceedings on a total of 30,000 migrants who attempted to illegally cross into the country from the border provinces of Iğdır and Ağrı just in 2016.

He also noted that migrants want to come to Turkey to use it as a transit point rather than stay in the country. 

"Europe and the world should think about it. They want to come to Turkey as a transit point and they do not want to stay in Turkey. They want to cross into the west and for them, Turkey is an important barrier and is enduring an important cost," Kaynak said. 

Some 3,000 unauthorized migrants came through Iran to Turkey in 2017 to border provinces of Ağrı and Iğır, according to information from security forces and the governors.