BODRUM (Reuters) – Turkey’s coastguard said it rescued 35 migrants from a boat found half sunken in the Aegean Sea early on Monday, and was searching for four more missing people. The migrants were rescued around 2:45 a.m. (2345 GMT) near a small island off the coast of Ayvalik in Turkey’s western Balikesir province, the coastguard said.
Greece has been the main gateway into the European Union for people fleeing conflict in the Middle East and beyond, largely via its islands near the Turkish coast. More than a million people reached its shores from Turkey in 2015-16.