Turkish district governor encounters refugee boat during maritime inspection

A refugee boat in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Dikili in the western province of İzmir was discovered while Dikili District Governor Alper Faruk Güngör was attending a maritime inspection on Oct. 9, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The incident occurred while Güngör was on a coast guard boat with Volkan Gürler, the district gendarmerie commander and Fatih Haykırer, the district chief of police. The team had set out to investigate precautions against illegal trafficking and illegal migration onsite.

While checking the bays, Güngör and his team located a group of refugees in a dinghy three miles (4.8 km) off the coast of Dikili, who were trying to pass onto the Greek islands from Turkey.

The boat carrying 52 refugees was then stopped by the coast guard teams and dispatched to the provincial migration office.

Of the 52 people, 40 were of Syrian origin, 11 of Afghan origin and one of Iranian origin.

Separately, the coast guard command released a statement on its website announcing they had caught 54 refugees, including 50 Syrians and four Eritreans, on Oct. 6 close to the Dikili Madra River in an attempt to cross to Greece. In another operation off the coast of the Karaburun district, a total of 61 Syrians were caught in another dinghy.