AKIPRESS.COM - At least 12 Syrians trying to reach Greece have drowned off Turkey after the boats they were travelling in sank.

An image of one of the victims - a young boy lying face down on the beach - has sparked an international outcry over the human cost of the crisis.

The picture, released by a Turkish news agency, is trending worldwide on Twitter under the #KiyiyaVuranInsanlik ("humanity washed ashore") hashtag.

Thousands of migrants have died this year trying to reach Europe by sea.

Twelve bodies, including five children, were recovered. Of 23 people on board the two boats, only nine people are thought to have survived - some made it to shore with life jackets.

The image of the young boy, shown wearing a red T-shirt and lying face-down on the beach near Bodrum, was published shortly after the bodies washed up on shore at about 06:00 local time. He and the rest of the group were Syrians from the besieged town of Kobane who had fled to Turkey last year to escape advancing militants from the Islamic State (IS) group.