One dead after migrant boat capsizes in Turkey’s Bodrum

MUĞLA – Anadolu Agency

At least one person drowned and 16 others were rescued after a boat capsized off the Bodrum district of Turkey's southwestern Mugla province, according to security sources on Sept. 23.

The Turkish Coast Guard recovered the body of a woman and rushed 12 of the rescued migrants to nearby hospitals, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The migrants were trying to reach the Greek island of Kos.

Separately, in Ayvalık in the northwestern Balıkesir province, gendarmerie units on Sept. 23 rounded up 22 Syrian and Afghan nationals, including women and children.

A total of 141 migrants, including women and children, were held in Ayvacık in the northwestern province of Çanakkale.

In the northwestern Edirne province, security forces caught 64 migrants during road checks; 22 Afghan nationals in Ipsala, 29 Pakistani nationals in Meriç and 13 Syrian, Iraqi and Palestinian nationals in Uzunköprü.

All of the migrants were referred to provincial migration offices.       

Turkey has been a main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since 2011, when the Syrian civil war began.

Of the migrants held in 2017 in Turkey, the majority came from Pakistan - around 15,000 - followed by Afghans at around 12,000. Syrians totaled about 10,000. A 60 percent increase in migrant flow has been seen since 2016. The number was 31,000 in 2016.