Migrants: Turkey, 65 people rescued in the Aegean

(ANSA) - ISTANBUL, NOV 30 - The Turkish Coast Guard has announced that it has rescued 65 migrants who were trying to reach the Greek islands from the Turkish coast on the Aegean sea. A statement states that 30 migrants were rescued off Cesme and another 35 near Menderes, two locations in the province of Smyrna, the largest Turkish city on the Aegean coast. The rafts on which they traveled would have been pushed back by the ships of the Greek coast guard according to the statement from the Turkish authorities. The migrants, whose nationality is not indicated, were subsequently transferred to reception centers.

    Ankara regularly accuses Athens of illegally turning back migrants who try to get to the Greek islands by embarking on rubber boats that depart from the Turkish coast.

    Under a 2016 agreement, Turkey receives funding from the European Union to manage the nearly 5 million refugees it hosts and to prevent them from trying to reach Europe illegally.

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