December 2007 Seferihisar, Turkey migrant boat disaster

Turkish Coast Guard Command teams have caught 103 migrants trying to go abroad illegally off the Aegean province of İzmir and have rescued seven others, who were stranded at sea.

At least 11 irregular migrants, including eight children, were killed when their boat sank off the coast of western Turkey, a Turkish Coast Guard source said on Jan. 11. 

The boat carrying 19 irregular migrants capsized off the coast of Çeşme in the Aegean province of Izmir, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Greece's Coast Guard rescued 131 migrants off the coast of Chios and Samos in the eastern Aegean in the early hours of Tuesday.
Forty seven migrants were located in a dinghy northwest of Samos, while authorities were later called to the same area to assist another boat carrying 51 people. All migrants were led to the port of Vathi.

An Iraqi irregular migrant who was rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard along with 45 others in the Aegean Sea on Jan. 15 said Greek naval officers "tried to kill" them.

Turkish Coast Guard has rescued 40 irregular migrants in the Aegean Sea while recovering one body, security sources said on Jan. 15.

A boat carrying migrants has capsized off Turkey's Aegean coast, killing at least nine people, the coast guard said Wednesday. A search and rescue mission was underway for some 25 migrants who are believed to be missing.

The Turkish Coast Guard on Dec. 14 rescued at least 68 migrants stranded on a rocky islet in the Aegean Sea.

12 migrants drowned and 4 went missing near the coast of Kusadasi, Turkey, when their dinghy sank, Friday in the Aegean Sea. 5 children were among the dead, while the two Turkish human traffickers were arrested. According to Turkish TV channel NTV, the small boat was carrying 22 people and was heading to the Greek island of Samos, while Turkish news agency DHA 7 people were rescued.

The number of migrants and refugees who have perished while trying to cross the Mediterranean this year has passed 5,000, the United Nations said Dec. 23 after two more deadly shipwrecks.     

Four Iraqi migrants, including two children, drowned after a Greece-bound boat capsized off the Turkish resort town of Bodrum early on Dec. 18.

The boat carrying a total of eight Iraqi migrants capsized off the Aegean province of Mu?la, leaving four dead, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.