An article in the EUobserver examines the pivotal role that smuggling operations based in the migrant quarters of the Turkish city of Istanbul now play in moving illegal migrants into the European Union, primarily across the Greek-Turkish border. Afghans, Iranians, Iraqis, Nigerians, and now increasingly Syrians, make up the majority of those seeking to gain access to the European Union. “The locals call the smugglers ‘kacakci.’ It is a term predominantly used by Kurdish, Turkish, and Asian people who move migrants through Turkey into Europe.”

The author of the article, Nikolaj Nielson, writes, “Opinion is divided on the role of the Turkish and Russian mafia.” Professor Anna Triandafyllidou of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies in Florence, who has written on migrant smuggling, told Nielson that “There is no overarching international structure that takes you from Afghanistan to Greece, having taken care of everything.” In contrast, Michel Koutouzis, who is a Paris-based narco-trafficking expert of Greek descent, told Nielson that “the business is dominated by Turkish mafia families, who make tens of millions of euros out of it each year.”

Recent efforts by Greek authorities to reinforce their border defenses, thereby making illegal border crossings even tougher, have simply resulted in an increase in the price charged by smuggling operations.  The director of police at the Greek border town of Orestiadas, Pashalis Syritoudis, told Nielson that “Because of our fence, migrants are paying a lot more than they did over the summer. Before [the launch of Operation] ‘Shield’ they paid around €300 per person [to cross the river]. Now it is €3,000 to €4,000.” With the increasing turmoil in Syria, tightening economic sanctions against Iran, and anticipated drawdown of ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) forces from Afghanistan in 2014, the numbers seeking the services of “kacakci” will only increase in the months and years ahead.