At least 33 drowned off Turkish coast as Merkel talks migrant crisis in Ankara

At least 33 people drowned trying to reach Europe on Monday when the boat they were travelling in sank just off the Turkish coast.

The boat had set off from the affluent port city of Izmir, on Turkey’s western coast, on Monday morning.

Three people were rescued by the Turkish coastguard.

Turkey's Dogan News Agency said 11 of the dead were children - the nationalities of those who died were not made public.

Turkey is currently hosting around 2.5 million refugees from the war across the border in Syria, and is now the main jumping-off point for people attempting to travel to Europe.

The Turkish government – which is keen to join the European Union – has come under pressure from the 28-member body to stem the flow of people crossing the Aegean Sea to claim asylum in Europe.

The latest deaths on Monday came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Turkish officials in the capital Ankara to discuss how to cut the number of people making the dangerous crossing.

Following talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Merkel said she would seek NATO help to police Turkey's shores and prevent Europe-bound boats from leaving.

Merkel said she would ask a meeting of NATO defence ministers on Wednesday "whether, and to what extent, NATO can help in monitoring the situation at sea and lend support to the Frontex and Turkish coastguards," referring to the European border agency.

The German premier, whose country took in over a million asylum seekers last year alone, also highlighted the ongoing bombardment of Aleppo as a key factor pushing the migration crisis.

Merkel said she was "not just appalled but horrified" by the aftermath of a Syrian military offensive backed up by Russian air strikes, which has seen tens of thousands of people reportedly flee the north-western Syrian city of Aleppo in the past few days as pro-government and Russian forces press a military offensive in the region.

Turkey was criticised by the EU over the weekend after it closed its land border with Syria amid the massive new refugee flow from Aleppo. 

Tens of thousands remain stranded at the border between Syria and Turkey, which is building temporary camps on the Syrian side of the frontier.

Turkey has said it has reached the limit of its capacity to host refugees from Syria, and Davutoglu warned on Monday that Syrians are "on the verge of a new human tragedy" if the bombing continues.

Merkel called for the bombing campaign to be halted swiftly, saying it is "hard for peace talks to take place" as long as it continues.