Body of Syrian child found in Bosphorus off Istanbul

Bosphorus strait

 Istanbul: Turkish authorities have found in the Bosphorus Strait off Istanbul the body of a four-year-old Syrian child who went missing two weeks ago, media reports said Wednesday.

Turkish rescue workers on Tuesday recovered the lifeless body of the small boy washed up on the shore in the Ortakoy district of Istanbul on the European side of the city.

Police investigations identified him as four-year-old Metin Faysal, who fled to Turkey with his family two years ago to escape the war in Syria, the Dogan news agency said.

His mother, Shirin, identified the boy by his clothes, Dogan added. An investigation was under way to determine the cause of his death which was not immediately clear.

The toddler was reported missing by his family on December 16 from the Eminonu district on the Istanbul waterfront, a popular tourist hub.

Under an "open-door" policy championed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has taken more than two million Syrian refugees since the conflict erupted in 2011.

Three-year-old Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi, whose limp body was photographed washed up on a Turkish beach in September, became a heartbreaking symbol of the refugee crisis.