20 July 2018•Update: 20 July 2018
By Hakan Mehmet Sahin
EDIRNE, Turkey
At least two people have drowned after a boat capsized in the Meric River on the Turkish-Greek border in Turkey's northwestern Edirne province.
According to security sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to media, the boat was carrying undocumented migrants who were trying to illegally cross the river to reach Europe through Greece.
The Turkish Coast Guard recovered the bodies of a woman and an infant after an eight-hour search and rescue operation.
The operation will continue on Saturday, the sources added.
Turkey has been a main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since 2011, when the Syrian civil war began.
Of the migrants held in 2017 in Turkey, the majority came from Pakistan -- around 15,000 -- followed by Afghans at around 12,000. Syrians totaled about 10,000. A 60 percent increase in migrant flow has been seen since 2016. The number was 31,000 in 2016.
