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| Refugee crisis: 35 die off Turkish coast | Refugee crisis: 35 die off Turkish coast |
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| At least 35 people have died after two boats carrying refugees sank off Turkey’s Aegean coast, according to reports. | At least 35 people have died after two boats carrying refugees sank off Turkey’s Aegean coast, according to reports. |
| The Turkish coastguard said 24 drowned when a boat capsized in the Bay of Edremit, near the Greek island of Lesbos, while the Doğan news agency reported that the bodies of 11 people were found after a separate accident further south, near the Aegean resort of Dikili. | The Turkish coastguard said 24 drowned when a boat capsized in the Bay of Edremit, near the Greek island of Lesbos, while the Doğan news agency reported that the bodies of 11 people were found after a separate accident further south, near the Aegean resort of Dikili. |
| The deaths came as Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, met the Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, for further talks on reducing the influx of refugees to Europe. | |
| Turkey is central to Merkel’s diplomatic efforts to reduce the flow. An unprecedented 1.1 million asylum seekers arrived in Germany last year, many of them fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. | |
| In her weekly video message on Saturday, Merkel said European Union countries agreed that the bloc needed to protect its external borders better, and that that is why she was seeking a solution with Turkey. She added that, if Europe wanted to prevent smuggling, “we must be prepared to take in quotas of refugees legally and bear our part of the task”. | |
| Related: Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees remain stranded at Turkish border | Related: Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees remain stranded at Turkish border |
| “I don’t think Europe can keep itself completely out of this,” Merkel added. | |
| Turkey faces pressure from the EU to open its borders to up to 35,000 Syrians who have massed along the frontier in the past few days fleeing an onslaught by government forces. | Turkey faces pressure from the EU to open its borders to up to 35,000 Syrians who have massed along the frontier in the past few days fleeing an onslaught by government forces. |
| Turkey, home to 2.5 million Syrian refugees, says it has reached its capacity to absorb more but has indicated that it will continue to provide refuge. | Turkey, home to 2.5 million Syrian refugees, says it has reached its capacity to absorb more but has indicated that it will continue to provide refuge. |
| It agreed in November to fight smuggling networks and help curb irregular migration. In return, the EU has pledged €3bn (£2.3bn) to help improve the condition of refugees, and to grant political concessions to Turkey, including an easing of visa restrictions and the fast-tracking of its EU membership process. | It agreed in November to fight smuggling networks and help curb irregular migration. In return, the EU has pledged €3bn (£2.3bn) to help improve the condition of refugees, and to grant political concessions to Turkey, including an easing of visa restrictions and the fast-tracking of its EU membership process. |
| Turkey has since started to require Syrians arriving from third countries to apply for visas, in an attempt to exclude those who aim to continue on to Greece. It has agreed to grant work permits to Syrians as an incentive for them to stay. Ankara has also announced plans to increase coastguards’ capabilities and designate human smuggling as a form of organised crime, which would bring stiffer punishments. |