Sources: AP
Turkey says it has deported more than 3,300 foreigners suspected of links to jihadi groups, and barred another 41,000 foreigners from entering the country. 2016-04-25
European Union and Turkish officials agree on how to handle the flood of refugees. The deal, to return irregular migrants to Turkey, includes acceleration of the country's long-stalled bid for membership in the union; billions of euros in extra aid, 3 billion euros now, another 3 billion by 2018; and, visa-free travel for Turks once the country satisfies the EU criteria. Europe will be taking in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey. Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) strongly condemns the deal as "ugly and illegal." The agreement is set to go into effect Sunday, March 20, 2016. 2016-03-18
Almost 40 people are killed and 75 are rescued after a boat carrying migrants sinks between Turkey and Greece. 2016-01-30
A boat carrying Iraqi Kurd migrants sinks off the Greek island of Samos in the Aegean Sea off Turkey's Anatolian coast, killing at least 24 people, including several children, with 11 others missing. 2016-01-28
Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reports 11 migrants, including three children, drowned, and the Turkish coast guard rescued seven Syrians from a capsized boat headed to the Greek island of Samos. 2015-12-22
Turkey agrees with leaders of the European Union to help stem the flow of migrants to Europe in return for cash and visas, and renewal of talks on joining the EU. A key element is 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in EU aid for the 2.2 million Syrians now in Turkey. 2015-11-29
The Greek coast guard and the European Union border agency Frontex, in six separate operations, rescue a total of 383 migrants attempting to sail from Turkey to the eastern Greek islands. 2015-11-7
Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras lashes out at European "ineptness" in handling the continent's massive immigration crisis. The Associated Press reports 31 more people — mostly children — drowned in shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea near the islands of Kalymnos and Rhodes. Turkey's state-run agency says four children drowned and two others are missing after two new accidents with boats headed to Greece's Lesbos and Samos islands. The death toll in the Aegean Sea over the past three days is at least 50. The Greek coast guard says they rescued 600 people in the past 24 hours, while thousands more made it safely from Turkey to Greece's southeastern islands. 2015-10-30
Balkan and European leaders agree to work together implementing a 17-point action plan that includes United Nations-aided accommodation for 100,000 places in reception centers along the route from Greece towards Germany, half in Greece and half in the countries to the north. Some of the other measures: within a week, deploy 400 police officers to Slovenia; step up efforts to return migrants not needing international protection; and, reinforce support of the bloc’s border agency, Frontex', role in securing external borders between Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, and Albania. 2015-10-25
In a pair of incidents on Tuesday and Wednesday, two migrants were killed, 16 are missing, and 48 were rescued from boats heading to Greece from Turkey that capsized in the Aegean Sea. 2015-10-22