Turkey: Boat carrying 45 migrants sinking in Aegean Sea

ISTANBUL (AP) — A boat carrying 45 migrants was sinking in the southeastern Aegean Sea and rescue units were deployed, Turkey’s defense ministry said Friday.

The ministry tweeted that the boat ran into trouble about 60 miles (nearly 100 kilometers) south of the Greek island of Karpathos. It said two ships and one plane was involved in the rescue attempt.

Commercial ships were also issued “search sectors” through a marine announcement system.

Migrants have tried to cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece in the hopes of starting new lives in Europe. The journey is a deadly one.

A migration deal between Turkey and the EU, which was reached in 2016, helped stem refugee flows but many still attempt the dangerous sea routes to try and reach one of the Greek islands.

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Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

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