Turkish coast guard rescue 60,000 refugees in six months

Tens of thousands of migrants from mainly Syria and other conflict zones were saved during the search-and-rescue operations, conducted by coast guard officials in the Agean Sea, said the Coast Guard Command.

The command said that coast guard boats were engaged in 1,729 operations in the Agean Sea in the rescue of as many as 60,000 refugees under the operation “Hope in the Aegean”, led by the the Coast Guard Command.

The operations were conducted from Jan. 1 to Oct. 12 in the Agean Sea, which has become one of the most favoured routes for migrants seeking to cross into Greece. 76 human-traffickers, who led clandestine journey for migrants to Europe, were captured by the coast gurad officials. All, taken by the coast guard, faced legal actions.

1,361 were saved and one human trafficer was seized in the most recent 31 operations, which took place in the Agean Sea between Oct. 9 and 12. 428 were pulled from the water alive in five incidents, reported off Ayvacık town, Çanakkale, on Turkey's western coast, the Command's report said.

The report also said 346 were helped survived in 12 accidents which happened off the popular coastal town, Bodrum, the city of Muğla, also leading capture of one human-trafficer, who guided refugees in an attempt to reach Europe. According to the report, a coast guard boat helped 46 refugees survive, acting on tip-off from the locals in Ayvalık town, Balıkesir.

278 were lucky to survive in six sea accidents that occurred off İzmir city's popular towns, Çeşme and Dikili. 263 were rescued from water with the help of coast guard speedboats in the six accident reported in other famous coastal towns, Didim and Kuşadası, near the province of Aydın.

The Coast Guard Command stated that it is remained committed to its struggle to conduct operations to prevent irregular migration in the seas.

There has been an upsurge in the recent months in the numbers of migrants, who attempted to reach Greece, travelling on shaky vessels.

Europe has been rocked by migrant crisis and misery of migrants, mostly from war-torn Syria. EU leaders have bowed to overwhelming domestic and international pressure. So, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has declared EU will accept one million migrants until the end of 2015.

Merkel will travel to Ankara to discuss the migrant crisis, with top Turkish leaders during her one-day visit on Sunday following a two-day EU summit in Brussel which will focus on the refugee crisis.

EU leaders have offered a draft action plan to Ankara to stem the flow of migrants and refugees, many fleeing the civil conflict in Syria. The proposal has been still negotiated between EU and Turkish officials.

Authorities in EU capitals request Ankara to take care of migrants and refugees in Turkey in return of 1 billion-euros financial support as humanitarian assistance. The EU has also pledged to take some Syrian refugees from Turkey but no concrete numbers has been revealed in the draft plan.