One dead, 29 missing as migrant boat capsizes off Turkey’s Aegean coast

AYDIN – Doğan News Agency

CİHAN photo

One migrant died and 29 others went missing on July 7 when a boat carrying migrants heading to the EU capsized off Turkey’s Aegean coast.

The boat, carrying a total of 37 migrants, who were mostly Syrians, capsized off the Didim coast in the Aegean province of Aydın after setting sail in the early hours of the morning from Fener Bay. Witnesses immediately informed the Turkish Coast Guard of the incident.

Seven migrants, including two children and two women, were rescued by the Coast Guard. In addition, a rescue operation was launched to locate the 29 missing migrants.

Sharing borders with Syria and Iraq to the south and EU members Bulgaria and Greece to the northwest, Turkey has become a center for migrants looking to illegally enter the EU. 

In recent years, one of the most favored routes to the EU has been Turkey’s Aegean region, as well as its southern provinces that open to the Mediterranean.