SANLIURFA
The dead body of a drowned Syrian child, whose picture on a Turkish beach went viral on social media causing worldwide outrage, has been buried in Syrian town of Kobani on Friday.
On Wednesday, 12 people, including eight children, drowned after their boat sank en route to the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. Their bodies had washed up on the shores of Turkey’s tourist destination Bodrum.
Among the dead Syrian children was Aylan, 3, who was pictured lifeless on the Turkish beach face down. Aylan's brother Galip, 5, and their mother Zahin Kurdi, 27, also died, sparking widespread condemnation and a previously unseen outpouring of emotions from world leaders Thursday.
Speaking to the press Friday, Abdullah Kurdi, the father of Aylan and Galip, said that he had dreamed of giving a better life for his children and wife, but everything went wrong and now he was taking their dead bodies to bury.
The father said he would not leave his country anymore.
Earlier on Thursday, four Syrians, suspected of being involved in human trafficking resulting in the death of the 12 people aboard the boat, were taken into custody in Turkey’s southwestern province of Mugla, security sources said.
The coast of Bodrum in the province of Mugla is a preferred location for migrants trying to reach Kos, as the route is considered among the shortest by sea from Asia to EU territory.
In the first five months of 2015, over 42,000 people arrived by sea to Greece, most of them refugees, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
