UPDATE 2 - Over 240 asylum seekers rescued off western Turkey

REVISES NUMBER OF ASYLUM SEEKERS; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE

By Mustafa Gungor, Safak Yel and Sabri Kesen

IZMIR, Turkey (AA) - Turkish Coast Guard units rescued 241 asylum seekers Tuesday off the coast of Aegean provinces in western Turkey.

The asylum seekers were pushed back by Greek authorities into Turkish territorial waters, according to security sources.

Acting on a tip-off, coast guard teams rescued 30 asylum seekers from rubber boats and lifeboats off the coast of Dikili district in Izmir province, according to a statement by the Turkish Coast Guard Command.

Another coast guard team was dispatched off Kusadasi district in Aydin province after learning that 46 asylum seekers were stranded on a rubber boat. They were later taken to the provincial migration office.

Off the same coast, 70 other asylum seekers on rubber boats, who also told of having been pushed back to Turkish territorial waters by Greek authorities, were rescued when coast guard security boats were dispatched.

Separately, 40 asylum seekers traveling on two boats off the coast of the town of Seferihisar in Izmir were rescued after they were pushed back by Greek elements, the coast guard said in a statement.

Eighteen more asylum seekers were rescued and said they were released in Turkish territorial waters by Greek forces off Izmir's Karaburun coast.

In Mugla province, coast guard teams acted on information that irregular migrants were abandoned by Greek elements off the coast of Bodrum.

At least 37 irregular migrants who were traveling on boats were rescued and transferred to the provincial migration office after routine procedures.

Two people were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking.

Turkey has been a key transit point for asylum seekers aiming to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

Turkey and human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece's illegal practice of pushing back asylum seekers, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz and Dilan Pamuk in Ankara