Another drowned toddler washes up on Turkish beach: Report

ISTANBUL - Agence France-Presse

Syrian refugees arrive on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey on a inflatable dinghy on September 11, 2015. AFP Photo

A four-year-old Syrian girl's body washed up on a beach in western Turkey on Sept.18, state media said, just weeks after images of drowned Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi shook the world. 

The yet-to-be identified girl was found lifeless on a beach in the Aegean town of Çeşme in İzmir province after a boat carrying 15 Syrians to the Greek island of Chios sank, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.    

It said the Turkish coast guard rescued the remaining 14 Syrians, including eight children, from the inflatable boat. The girl appeared to be the only casualty.    

Harrowing pictures of three-year-old Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi, whose body was found washed up on a Turkish beach after the boat carrying his family to the Greek island of Chios sank, caused an outpouring of emotion around the world, pressuring European leaders to step up their response to the refugee crisis.
 
But two weeks later EU members are still at odds over how to accommodate the tens of thousands of new arrivals.
 
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said on Sept.18 that the Turkish coast guard had rescued over 53,000 migrants from stricken boats since the beginning of the year.
 
He said around 274 migrants have lost their lives in Turkish waters this year seeking to leave the country by sea for Greece.
 
In the latest tragedy, 22 people who had left Turkey drowned on Sept.15 when their wooden boat sank off Kos.
 
Migrants have in recent days turned to Turkey's land borders with Greece and Bulgaria to avoid the sea voyage that has cost over 2,600 people their lives in the Mediterranean this year.    

Several hundred refugees spent a third day camped in and around the Turkish border city of Edirne, which lies 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Greek border and is being promoted on social media as a safer route out of Turkey than sea journey in overcrowded dinghies.
 
Under an "open-door" policy championed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey has taken in 2.2 million Syrian refugees since the conflict in Syria erupted in 2011.
 
Kurtulmuş said Turkey has so far spent almost $7 billion (6 billion euros) to provide for Syrian refugees.