UPDATE - Over 200 asylum seekers rescued in western Turkey

UPDATES WITH ADDED NUMBER OF ASYLUM SEEKERS; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Mustafa Gungor and Safak Yel

IZMIR, Turkey (AA) - Turkish Coast Guard units rescued on Tuesday a total of 204 asylum seekers in the Aegean provinces of Izmir and Aydin in western Turkey.

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

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

Another coast guard team was dispatched off the Kusadasi district in Aydin 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 having been pushed back to Turkey's territorial waters by Greek authorities, were rescued when the Coast Guard security boats were dispatched.

Separately, 40 asylum seekers traveling on two boats off the coast of Izmir's Seferihisar town 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 on Turkish territorial waters by Greek forces off Izmir's Karaburun coast.

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