They said that a boat carrying 16 migrants had sunk after leaving Turkey’s Akyarlar area, killing seven people. Four were rescued and five are still missing.
Another boat carrying six Syrians sank on the same route, drowning three children and a woman, while two people managed to swim ashore wearing life jackets.
With the war in Syria in its fifth year and showing no signs of a resolution, tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the conflict have flooded Turkey’s Aegean coast to board overloaded boats or rubber dinghies to Greece in order to get into other European Union countries.
According to some estimates, more than 2,000 migrants have been attempting the short sea journey to Greek islands near Turkey since last month.
On Tuesday, Turkey said its coastguard had rescued 42,000 migrants in the Aegean since the start of this year, including 2,160 last week alone.
Europe is currently facing a refugee crisis, as millions from the Middle East and Africa fleeing conflict and hardship at home seek safe haven in the EU.
The EU announced plans Tuesday to distribute the new arrivals among member states.
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