Heartwarming story behind photo of Syrian migrant baby rescued by Turkish coast guards

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

The heartwarming story of a migrant Syrian baby who was rescued by Turkish coast guards has gone viral.

On Aug. 2, locals informed the Coast Guard Command about a group of migrants attempted to cross the sea in a plastic boat from the Aegean province of Aydın’s Didim district.

Crews stopped the boat carrying 50 migrants, including 11 children. Some 38 Syrians, nine Congolese, two Eritreans and one Ethiopian were on the boat stopped by the coast guards.

The heartwarming photo was shot after the rescue operation. The photo, which shows a coast guard holding a Syrian baby smiling at its rescuer quickly went viral and was shared numerous times.

In another rescue operation, another heartwarming incident occurred on Aug. 3. Coast guards took action to rescue another group of migrants who were sent off to sea from Dikili’s Bademli area. Guards stopped the boat which had started to take on water. The crew tried to negotiate in order to convince them to rescue them but one of the migrants rejected the rescue, threatening them with throwing his baby over board into the sea. Their efforts of persuasion resulted in the rescue of the baby along with the other 16 Syrian children from the sinking boat.

Crews under the Turkish Coast Guard Command in the Aegean provinces apprehended 236 Syrian migrants who were trying to reach European countries via Turkey in the first five days of August.

At least 100 of those caught by coast guards in the Aegean were children and babies.

Meanwhile, 299 migrants managed to reach the Greek Islands via the Aegean Sea by Turkey in the first five days of August.