By Hussein Omar
In this exclusive interview, Abdullah Sheto, the uncle of the three-year-old Kurdish boy who drowned on the Turkish shores on Tuesday tells the family’s tragic story. Sheto spoke to Rudaw from a hospital in Turkey where he is tending to Aylan’s father who survived the boat-wreck.
Rudaw: When did your sister’s family leave Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan)?
Abdullah Sheto: They used to live in Damascus. In 2010 they left Damascus and settled in Kobani. My brother-in-law (Aylan’s father) had a barbershop in Kobani. He worked there for a year then left for Turkey. He worked there alone for two years while I was taking care of his family. I had given part of my house to his family. During his time in Turkey Abdullah kept visiting Kobani until he took his family with him this year.
Rudaw: When did they go to Bodrum in Turkey?
Abdullah Sheto: They were in Bodrum for 15 days.
Rudaw: How did they get on that boat? Did they not fear the journey?
Abdullah Sheto: They had sailed at midnight and five mintures later the waves had risen. The boat was run by a Turkish man. As soon as the big waves had come he had abandoned the boat and run away.
Rudaw: Can you tell us the names and age of those who drowned on that boat?
Abdullah Sheto: Aylan who was three years old. His mother Rehan, 28, and Galeb who was 4.
Rudaw: When did their boat sink?
Abdullah Sheto: At 12 midnight.
Rudaw: When did rescue arrive?
Abdullah Sheto: At 12 Aylan’s father phoned me. He said, “My Galeb has drowned, Aylan who was clinging to his mother drowned too. I told Rehan to let them go so that she doesn’t go down with them, but she didn’t let go and she died too,”
Rudaw: When was Abdullah rescued?
Abdullah Sheto: It had taken Abdullah 10 minutes to get back to the Turkish shore.
Rudaw: How did they retrieve the bodies?
Abdullah Sheto: They first found Rehan and Galeb’s bodies but they looked for Aylan’s body till next morning. They found him lying on the sand.
Rudaw: What do you say to the world after that tragic end?
Abdullah Sheto: My call to the world is this: What happened to us shouldn’t happen again to anyone else. If there is a Muslim left in the world, let them turn to us. No should trade in our lives.
Rudaw: It is said that your sister and her husband had asked Canada for asylum? Is this true?
Abdullah Sheto: Yes, Abdullah (Aylan’s father) has a sister in Canada who had asked the government to bring Abdullah, Rehan and their children to Canada. She had said that she would provide housing and living costs for them. But Canada had rejected her request. Yesterday after the incident, they [Canadian authorities] had gone to her and apologized. They had said that they didn’t know something like this would happen and that the surviving father could now come to Canada. But Abdullah says that he would bury his family in Kobani and he will himself stay near them.
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