recently amended criminal legislation according to which, inter alia, crossing the border fence or damaging it constitutes a criminal offence. Attention was also paid to the legal safeguards offered to the detainees concerned. To this end, the delegation visited several detention centres for foreigners, police detention facilities and a prison. In addition, the delegation visited two so-called “transit zones” located at the border with Serbia. 9. In April, the CPT carried out its third visit to Kosovo2, on the basis of an agreement signed in 2004 between the Council of Europe and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The purpose of the visit was to review the measures taken by the relevant authorities following the recommendations made by the Committee after its previous visit (in 2010). In this connection, particular attention was paid to the treatment and conditions of detention of persons in police custody and the situation in penitentiary establishments (including the regime for juvenile offenders, remand prisoners and inmates held in a new high-security prison and the provision of health care). The delegation also examined the treatment and legal safeguards offered to forensic psychiatric patients. 10. The purpose of the June ad hoc visit to Turkey was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of foreign nationals detained under aliens legislation and to assess the implementation of  the ongoing legislative and infra­ structural reforms in this area. For this 2. All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo. purpose, the CPT’s delegation visited seven removal centres in different parts of the country, as well as the holding facility in the transit zone of Istanbul Atatürk Airport. The visit took place at a very challenging time for Turkey when the country was facing an ever-increasing influx of foreign nationals (mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran). 11. Finally, for the third time, the CPT monitored a removal operation by air. In the context of an ad hoc visit to Italy in December, the delegation examined the treatment of foreign nation­ als during a return flight from Rome to Lagos (Nigeria). The flight was part of a Joint Return Operation which was co-ordinated and co-financed by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex). The foreign nationals concerned had been deported from Italy (“Organising Member State”) as well as from Belgium and Switzerland (“Participating Member States”). Public statements 12. On 26 March 2015, the Committee issued a public statement concerning Bulgaria under Article 10, paragraph 2, of the Convention;3 the text of the statement is reproduced in Appendix 8. Since 1995, the CPT has carried out ten visits to Bulgaria, during which major shortcomings have been identified, 3. “If the Party fails to co-operate or refuses to improve the situation in the light of the Committee’s recommendations, the Committee may decide, after the Party has had an opportunity to make known its views, by a majority of two-thirds of its members to make a public statement on the matter”. Activities during the period 1 January to 31 December 2015 ► Page 7