Turkey says it has stopped over 200 migrants from heading to EU-member Greece in small boats

ISTANBUL – Turkey says it has stopped over 200 migrants from reaching EU-member Greece in recent days.

The state-run Anadolu Agency says over 155 migrants were seized while trying to sail from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos in multiple ships on Sunday.

The Turkish Coast Guard also captured 71 other people on inflatable boats Sunday, including 38 Afghans and 33 people from Myanmar. In a separate interdiction, the Coast Guard captured 84 migrants in three small boats, mostly Syrians. Turkey does not deport Syrians.

In another incident Saturday, Turkey stopped 57 Syrian migrants on a small boat as they tried to reach the Greek island of Kos. The migrants included four babies.

Tens of thousands of migrants are flooding across the Mediterranean in smugglers' boats, trying to reach Europe.