Turkey arrests 4 Syrians over deaths of migrants at sea

Suspects accused of causing 12 deaths, including that of toddler whose washed-up body sparked worldwide horror

By AFP 5 September 2015, 9:43 am Edit
A paramilitary police officer carries the lifeless body of Aylan Kurdi, 3, after a number of migrants died and a smaller number were reported missing after boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized, near the Turkish resort of Bodrum early Wednesday, September 2, 2015. (AP/DHA)
A paramilitary police officer carries the lifeless body of Aylan Kurdi, 3, after a number of migrants died and a smaller number were reported missing after boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized, near the Turkish resort of Bodrum early Wednesday, September 2, 2015. (AP/DHA)

ANKARA (AFP) – Turkish authorities on Friday remanded in custody four Syrian suspected traffickers on charges of causing the drowning deaths of 12 migrants including a 3-year-old toddler in the Aegean that sparked horror worldwide, local media reported.

A court in the southwestern resort town of Bodrum ordered the suspects to be placed under arrest on suspicion of organizing the perilous journey and causing the death of 12 migrants including four children, the Hurriyet newspaper reported on its website.

The four suspects, including the captain of the boat, are charged with “migrant trafficking” and “causing the death of more than one person through deliberate negligence,” according to the report.

They are now set to be held in jail pending a trial whose date has yet to be set.

Twelve refugees drowned on Wednesday when two boats sank in the Aegean, and images of the lifeless body of a three-year-old boy washed ashore in Bodrum in southwest Turkey sparked a wave of emotion across Europe — the final destination for migrants seeking better lives.

In this image made from video, Abdullah Kurdi, foreground, the Syrian man who survived a capsizing during a desperate voyage from Turkey to Greece, speaks to reporters from a graveyard after burying his wife and two sons in their hometown of Kobani, the Syrian Kurdish region they fled, on Friday, Sept. 4, 2015. The haunting image of the man's 3-year-old son, Aylan Kurdi, washed up on Turkish beach focused the world's attention on the wave of migration fueled by war and deprivation. Aylan drowned along with his 5-year-old brother Galip and his mother, Rehan while trying to reach the island of Kos. (AP Photo via AP video)
In this image made from video, Abdullah Kurdi, foreground, the Syrian man who survived a capsizing during a desperate voyage from Turkey to Greece, speaks to reporters from a graveyard after burying his wife and two sons in their hometown of Kobani, the Syrian Kurdish region they fled, on Friday, Sept. 4, 2015. (AP Photo via AP video)

Aylan Kurdi was buried on Friday along with his mother Rehan and brother Ghaleb in the Syrian town of Kobani, a flashpoint region which became a symbol of resistance by Syrian Kurds against Islamic State (IS) extremists. The father of the family, Abdullah, survived the sinking, watching as his wife and two young sons drowned.

Abdullah’s sister, Tima Kurdi, said Friday that she still hopes to bring the rest of her family to Canada.

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