A total of 94 migrants, who were attempting to cross the Aegean Sea to reach Greece, were captured in the coastal districts of Çeşme and Dikili in Turkey's western Izmir province on Monday.
Turkish coast guard agents who were patrolling offshore Çeşme identified a dinghy near Altınkum beach at 02.00 a.m. local time and captured 50 migrants, including 22 children.
The migrants were identified to be of Syrian citizenship. They told the guards that their plan was to flee to Greece before trying to enter Germany.
The Turkish coast guard brought the 50 Syrian migrants to a nearby pier, where representatives from the International Organization for Migration awaited them with food and beverages.
The migrants were later referred to the Izmir Provincial Directorate of Migration Management for necessary procedures.
Meanwhile, another team of coast guard agents also captured 44 migrants offshore Salihleraltı in Dikili district on Sunday.
The captured migrants were identified to be coming from Syria, Cameroon, Iraq, Ghana, Afghanistan, Senegal, Nigeria, Congo and Lebanon.
Over the past year, thousands of people have made the short but dangerous attempt to cross the Aegean Sea in a bid to reach Greece, before moving on to Northern and Western Europe.
An EU-Turkey agreement reached on March 20, 2016 allows for the return of "irregular migrants" to Turkey from Greece in exchange for Syrian refugees living in Turkey to be relocated within the EU.
