The area around Bodrum is a common setting-off point for people desperate to reach Europe, who continue to risk unsafe journey in often rickety boats rather than attempting to cross Turkey’s highly fortified land borders with Greece and Bulgaria.
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Amir Cicek, governor of Mugla province, said the 8-meter boat which set off from the coastal village of Gumusluk sank early Sunday off the Turkish coast.
Turkish authorities were able to save 20 of the passengers while recovering the bodies of 17 drowned refugees.
An investigation has been launched.
A popular tourist destination the region is part of the larger Bodrum peninsula, the same place last month the body of drowned toddler Aylan Kurdi found, that sparked global outrage.
The Turkish Coast Guard On Saturday night intercepted two boats carrying 31 Afghan and Syrian migrants heading to Kos, that is around 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the country.
According to the worldwide Organization for Migration, there have been more than 2,700 fatalities in the Mediterranean Sea this year, 103 of them in the waters between Greece and Turkey. In another operation, 10 Syrian refugees were rescued as they swam towards Kos.
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The boy’s death increased pressure on global leaders to do more to combat a refugee crisis that has seen thousands die at sea on the way to Europe.
