ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The father of Alan Kurdi, a 3-year-old Kobane child who died while crossing the Aegean sea in 2015, has expressed mixed emotions at the sentencing of 3 individuals to 125 years each in prison for their involvement in the tragedy.
Abdullah Kurdi, his wife Rehanna, and their two sons, Alan, 3, and Ghalib, 4, were trying to cross the sea to Greece on September 2, 2015 when their smuggler’s boat sank off the Turkish coast.
A photograph of Alan lying face down in the surf on a Turkish beach caused shock and revulsion worldwide, and led to calls for European leaders to offer refugees safe and legal passage.
Three suspects were captured in Adana province southern Turkey this week, according to state-owned Anadolu Agency.
The suspects were convicted for “killing with eventual intent” by a court in Bodrum on Friday.
Two Syrian smugglers were jailed in 2016 over the tragedy, but three others had fled during the trial, according to AA.
Alan’s father told Rudaw English on Friday that he is mostly happy with the verdict- punishing those who are “trading with human lives.”
“The decision of sentencing the three individuals to 125 years made me happy and not happy at the same time, but made me happy in general as those who are trading with human lives have been detained and punished, and I hope all the other smugglers will be detained soon,” Kurdi said.
Kurdi revealed that he knows one of the suspects and is "sure" that he is guilty.
He also announced that he is eagerly awaiting the birth of a new son, who will also be named Alan.
“I will have another Alan in 10 days, and that makes me have hope again,” Kurdi said.
A German charity named a rescue ship in memory of Alan Kurdi to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.
Sea-Watch's Alan Kurdi ship has rescued many migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean and enter Europe.
Kurdi is currently trying to relocate the ship from the Mediterranean Sea to Aegean sea, the primary route for refugees and migrants crossing from Turkey to Greece.
“I’m planning to relocate Alan’s ship, which rescues migrants from the Libyan coast, to the Aegean Sea to rescue the refugees,” he said.
He is also planning to have another rescue ship in the Aegean Sea named Galib, the other son he lost in the tragedy.
