ANKARA, March 30 (Reuter) A senior member of Turkey's narcotics police on
Sunday defended the country's record in the antidrugs fight after Western
criticism that Ankara is not doing enough to halt the flow of heroin to
Europe.

``Turkey is not a drug depot as they (Europeans) claim, but a shield for
Europe,'' Ismail Caliskan, deputy head of the department of organised crime
and smuggling, told Anatolian news agency.

Turkey is a key transit point to Europe for drugs, mostly heroin from
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. He said other countries on the smugglers'
``Balkan route'' to Western Europe did not do as much as Turkey to fight drug
trafficking.

``Turkey spends $30 million each year in the struggle against drug
smuggling...There are other countries after Turkey, why they do not take
measures on their own borders?'' he said.

Caliskan said 4.5 tonnes of the seven tonnes of heroin seized in Europe last
year was captured by Turkish police, according to the Interpol figures.

Antidrugs officials in Western Europe have recently urged Turkey to make a
greater effort against the drugs trade.