The migrants were trying to get from Turkey to EU country Greece, which has seen a large number of arrivals recently. Boats continue to arrive despite the pact between the EU and Turkey, which allows Greece to sent rejected asylum seekers back to Turkey.
The UN agency for migration has reported that at least 519 migrants have died in the Mediterranean since the start of 2019. Over half of the victims died between the coasts of Italy and Malta. Meanwhile, Greece has become the top destination for migrants.
The Turkish government has said that since 2016 a reported 329,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their home country from Turkey after cross-border military operations carried out by Ankara.
Turkish authorities said they stopped 636 migrants on Wednesday who were trying to reach EU countries irregularly. Meanwhile, migrant bodies continue to turn up at the border between Turkey and Iran, where the bodies of nine foreigners were found on Tuesday, as winter snow thawed.
The EU border agency Frontex says the number of detected illegal border crossings into the EU has continued to fall. In the first trimester of 2019, the total was 27 percent lower than a year ago.
A central theme at this year's Art Biennale in Venice, Italy, is migration - despite the increased clamp-down on migration by the Italian government. Several countries chose to display works related to migration at the biannual event, chief among them Switzerland.
Almost 80,000 migrants and refugees were detained by Turkish authorities in the first four months of 2019 while trying to illegally cross borders to Europe.
An investigation conducted by the New York Times has found that small Turkish firms harvesting hazelnuts for well-known brands such as Ferrero, Godiva, and Nestlè often illegally exploit Syrian refugees.
One woman reportedly died as a boat overturned on the rocky coast of the Greek island of Samos. 50 migrants survived.
The European border agency Frontex says the number of migrants arriving in Europe by boat via the Central Mediterranean has nearly halved. In the past three months, the agency says the number of arrivals has fallen by 92 percent.
Greek authorities have used tear gas to disperse migrants who gathered on the country's border with Northern Macedonia in hopes of crossing into the Balkans. In the Greek capital Athens, police clashed with migrant protesters squatting on the tracks of the city's main train station. Authorities in Turkey, too, clashed with migrants mobilizing on the border with Greece.
The UN migration agency, the IOM, has responded on Twitter to complaints from Iraqi refugees who say they have been stranded in Turkey for up to six years. The refugees want to be given homes in third countries under the United Nations resettlement program.