Turkey floods May 1998: Eleven reported dead and thousands homeless near Black Sea June 1998: Eight killed in flash flood in south-eastern Turkey December 2001: Two ships sunk and four people killed in floods, storms and blizzards

Officials said most of the deaths occurred on the country's Black Sea coast, where floodwater turned streets into rivers in the northern cities of Rize and Tokat.

The Turkish cabinet is to send emergency aid to the provinces affected by flooding.

Weather forecasters are warning of more rain to come.

Turkish television showed rescuers wading through knee-high flood waters in Rize, where nine people were killed and two others are missing.

In the central town of Corum, some 250 kilometers (150 miles) from Ankara, heavy rain snapped minarets off three mosques.

In neighbouring Yozgat, six children were drowned, including four who died along with their mother after flood waters trapped them in their home, said an official.

One other

The rain is expected to continue for two days

family member was missing feared dead, NTV television reported.

Rescuers are still trying to reach 10 people trapped inside a house in the small village of Selamet, near Rize.

The flooding and high winds have damaged hundreds of homes and small business places, killed livestock and destroyed fields in the largely agricultural provinces.

Lightning has also killed five others in central and northwestern Turkey, the daily Milliyet newspaper reported.