Seven children among 18 refugees drowned off Turkey

Twenty-seven people rescued, among them a pregnant woman, after two refugee boats sink in separate incidents in Aegean.

Survivors were taken to a nearby medical center and were said to be in good condition [AP]

Eighteen refugees, among them at least seven children, have become the latest fatalities in Europe's refugee crisis, when their boats sank off Turkey's Aegean coast while trying to make the short but perilous crossing to Greece.

The coastguard said it recovered the bodies of 14 people from a wooden boat which was

 heading from the western province of Canakkale to the Greek island of Lesbos when it crashed

 into rocks and took on water.

Another four perished when their vessel sank off the coast of Izmir, a province further south, the 

coastguard added.

"Must there be another Aylan for the world to wake up? Humanity is watching from the sidelines,"

 President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on hearing of the latest deaths.

Erdogan was referring to three-year-old Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi, also known as Alan,

 whose body was pictured washed up on a Turkish beach in September in images that shocked

 the world, pressuring European leaders to step up their response to the crisis.

Turkey, which is hosting 2.2 million refugees from the conflict in neighbouring Syria, has become

 the main transit point for people fleeing war and misery for a better life in Europe.

National media said seven children were among those who died on the boat that sank off 

Canakkale while 27 people were rescued, among them a pregnant woman.

Survivors were taken to a nearby medical centre and were said to be in good condition.