Smuggled cigarettes increasingly give countenance to terrorism

Cigarette smuggling, one of the most significant sources of income for terrorist organizations, has increased 2 percent reaching 13,3 percent in the last quarter of 2015, according to recent research.

According to MS Intelligence research company's "empty pack study," as many as 143,239,425 packs of cigarettes were seized throughout Turkey in 2015.

The smuggled cigarettes are discovered to be prevalent in Van, Batman and Diyarbakır province, respectively, due to their proximities to Syria and Iraq while 9.8 percent of the total smuggled cigarettes were found in Istanbul.

Smuggled cigarettes are most common in the southeastern and eastern regions of Turkey , where security forces have been fighting terror.

Turkish authorities indicated that smuggled cigarettes are extremely harmful to health and are also a significant source of income for terrorist organizations.

Authorities stressed that the counter-smuggling hotline (136) was reactivated to fight smuggling, adding that citizens should cooperate with authorities and fulfill their duty as citizens by reporting any suspected cases.