AP PHOTOS: Thousands brave the cold to cross sea to Greece

The seas are rough and cold. The wind is bitter. The overcrowded smugglers' boats are far from seaworthy, with many unable even to make it across a few miles of water — and the bodies of those who drown as the boats sink are fished out of the churning seas day by day.

Yet tens of thousands of men, women and children fleeing violence and poverty in their homelands continue to risk their lives this winter to make the relatively short but dangerous journey from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands, seeking a better future in Europe.

AP PHOTOS: Editor's picks from Mideast, Afghanistan-Pakistan

In this Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015 file photo, a Lebanese couple take selfie in front men and women wearing Santa Claus costumes during a parade for Christmas, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon.  

AP PHOTOS: Editor's pick from Mideast, Afghanistan-Pakistan

In this Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015 photo, the gold mask of King Tutankhamun is displayed in its glass case, in the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square, in Cairo. Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty says the famed golden burial mask has been fixed, over a year after the beard was accidentally knocked off and hastily glued back with epoxy. A German-Egyptian team began the restoration work in October.  

AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from the Middle East for 2015

In this Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015 file photo, Lebanese activists hold up a makeshift shield as they are sprayed by riot police using water cannons during a protest against the ongoing trash crisis, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanese riot police fired several rounds of tear gas and water cannons for the second consecutive day in downtown Beirut Sunday as they battled protesters with batons and stones _ a marked escalation of mass demonstrations against an ongoing trash crisis.