Turkey coastguard searching for survivors after refugee boat sinks

Turkish coastguard are searching for survivors after another migrant boat sunk close to the Greek island of Lesbos.

1 min read

12 November, 2018

Turkey has launched search and rescue operations [AFP]

Turkish coastguard are searching for ten migrants lost at sea after their boat sank in the Aegean Sea, according to the country's state-run news agency.

The boat went down on Monday off the coast of Dikili, in Izmir province, close to the Greek island of Lesbos, Anadolu Agency said.

A rescue operation was launched after two of the migrants managed to swim to shore to seek help.

The nationalities of the migrants is not yet known but there are over 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, some of whom have crossed the waters to Europe.

Turkey has been a main transit point for refugees from Asia to Europe, until Ankara agreed a deal with the EU to curb trafficking in 2016.

Numbers of migrants attempting to reach Greece from nearby Turkey have dropped in recent months.

Thousands have died attempting to reach Europe, with the death of toddler Aylan Kurdi sparking sympathy in the continent until a migrant backlash.