Nine people went missing at sea on Monday after a migrant boat sank off the Turkish coast, while 31 others had been rescued, the coast guard said.
Search and rescue operations were launched by the coast guard to reach the passengers of the boat, which sunk off the coast of the Bodrum district in the Mugla province, Reuters reported.
It said the boat was carrying 40 migrants in total and search efforts were still underway.
Turkey became one of the main launch points for migrants taking the sea route to European Union territory in 2015, many fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.
The movement was drastically curtailed by a 2016 accord between Ankara and the EU.
According to the Associated Press, although the number of people heading to the Greek islands from the Turkish coast has decreased since the height of the refugee crisis in 2015, hundreds continue to make the crossing each week.
