The bodies of 34 migrants have been found washed up at two locations on Turkey’s coast after they had apparently tried to cross to the Greek island of Lesbos.
The migrants died after their boat or boats apparently capsized in rough seas. It was not known how many vessels were involved or how many people were on board.
Twenty-four of the bodies were discovered on the shoreline in the district of Ayvalik, the Turkish coast guard command said. Ten others were found in the district of Dikili, a police official said.
TV footage showed a body in an orange life jacket lying at the grey water's edge in Ayvalik, lapped by waves. The nationalities of those drowned were not immediately clear.
The coast guard and police rescued 12 people from the sea and the rocks on the Ayvalik coastline.
A coast guard official said three boats and a helicopter were searching for any survivors.
Increased policing on Turkey's shores and colder weather conditions have not deterred refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa from embarking on the perilous journey in small, flimsy boats.
"Migrants and refugees continue to enter Greece at a rate of over 2,500 a day from Turkey, which is very close to the average through December," said International Organization for Migration spokesman Joel Millman in Geneva.
"So we see the migrant flows are continuing through the winter and obviously the fatalities are continuing as well."
IOM said 3,771 migrants died trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe last year, compared with 3,279 recorded deaths in 2014.
