Turkish Cypriot authorities were able to rescue the passengers, who were aboard a Tanzanian fishing boat with a number of children among them, after an operation lasting several hours in bad weather and rough seas, Hurriyet newspaper reported.
The boat had signalled for help some 300 metres off Cyprus.
The passengers were transferred to another vessel and later transported to a gymnasium in Kyrenia in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus, Turkey-based Dogan news agency reported.
On September 10, some 500 people died when their boat was intentionally capsized off Malta in the deadliest such recent incident. Many of the migrants were Syrian, Palestinian, Egyptian and Sudanese.
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The migrants, including up to 100 children, drowned after smugglers sank their ship when the passengers refused to change to a smaller vessel, survivors said.
More than half of Syria's population has been forced to flee their homes since war began in their country in March 2011.