Bodies Of Drowned Syrian Boys Buried In Kobani

Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi, whose dead body was found washed up on Turkey's southwestern shore, has been buried, alongside his brother and mother in the Syrian border town of Kobani.

Kurdi, his elder brother, Galip (5), and their mother, Rehan (35), all drowned after the boat carrying them capsized during a desperate voyage from Turkey to Greece. Their father Abdullah survived.

A photograph of the body of 3-year-old Aylan face down in the sand at the Turkish seaside resort of Bodrum swept across social media. It appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world, provoking outrage at the perceived inaction of developed nations in helping refugees.

A convoy of vehicles crossed into the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobani from the Turkish border town of Suruç on Friday. Legislators from Turkey accompanied Abdullah Kurdi to Kobani. Journalists and well-wishers were stopped at a check-point some 3 kilometers from the border.

Abdullah wept as their bodies were buried alongside each other in the "Martyrs' Ceremony", also known as Ayn al-Arab, near the border with Turkey.

Speaking at the border crossing, Kurdi said he hoped the death of his family would encourage Arab states to help Syrian refugees, according to Reuters.

"I want from Arab governments -- not European countries -- to see (what happened to) my children, and because of them to help people," he said in footage posted online by a local radio station.

Canadian government under fire in Aylan case

The Canadian government came under fire on Thursday after it emerged that the family Aylan had wanted to immigrate to Canada, denting Prime Minister Stephen Harper's re-election bid, according to Reuters.

The boy's aunt, Vancouver resident Tima Kurdi, said she had hoped to bring Abdullah and his family to Canada, but had first tried to sponsor another brother, currently in Germany, an application that was rejected.

Kurdi, breaking down repeatedly during an emotional news conference, said her brother told her how his sons and wife had perished in the choppy waters and revealed she had sent money to help the family to leave Turkey.

"I told him 'I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have sent you the money to go. If I hadn't sent you the money you wouldn't have left'," she said.

She also said she did not want to "just blame the Canadian government. I'm blaming the whole world for this."

Canada's Department of Citizenship and Immigration said the application of the first brother had been returned because it was "incomplete" and that there was no record of an application from Aylan's family.

Fighting tears, New Democratic leader Thomas Mulcair, whose party has been leading in polls ahead of the Oct. 19 election, said one of his members of parliament had been trying to help the boy's family.

"It's just unbearable that we're doing nothing. Canada has an obligation to act," Mulcair said, choking up while speaking during a campaign stop.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said Canada must immediately accept 25,000 Syrian refugees.

Conservative Immigration Minister Chris Alexander abandoned his own re-election campaign and returned to Ottawa.

Earlier this year an opposition legislator gave Alexander a letter from Tima Kurdi asking him to help her family. Alexander told CBC television he had seen the letter but that as minister he could not become personally involved in individual cases.

Harper said he and his wife had seen the photos of the drowned boy and thought of their own son at that age. "If we look at the millions of people who are in danger, the tens of thousands who are dying, we could drive ourselves crazy with grief. Obviously we do what we can do to help," Harper told reporters.

Harper's overhaul of the country's immigration system has been criticized by refugee advocates.

Canada has said it would accept 23,000 Iraqi refugees and 11,300 Syrians, but has been criticized for only resettling 2,300 Syrians to date. Alexander says Canada will accept 10,000 more persecuted minorities from the region, according to Reuters.

Turkey halts more migrant boats as toddler deaths fail to stop crossings

Turkish authorities stopped 57 refugees trying to cross to the Greek island of Kos on Thursday night, as migrants trying to reach Europe remained undeterred by the drowning of two toddlers this week on the same route.

Coastguards halted three boats carrying 57 Syrians, Afghans and Pakistanis late on Thursday, impounding the vessels and taking the passengers back to Turkey, where they spent the night sleeping under blankets in the yard of the coastguard building, according to Reuters.

Four suspected Syrian smugglers detained in connection with the deaths of Aylan and his family appeared in handcuffs at a courthouse in Bodrum on Friday.

Meanwhile in the center of the town, life-jackets were reportedly still on sale for as little as 30 Turkish liras ($10), amid claims that many are fake, cobbled together with canvas and sponge.

Turkey has borne much of the humanitarian fallout from Syria, sheltering an estimated 2 million refugees at a cost of $6 billion; however, its western coastline has become a key springboard for thousands hoping to reach Europe.

In the meantime, interim Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu issued a statement on Thursday over the images of Syrian toddler Aylan. He blamed the international community for turning its back on Syria, without taking any responsibility on behalf of his government's policies.

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government had for years been supporting the removal of the Bashar al-Assad regime from power, accusing him of being the source of suffering in the country.

“A suffering nation [Syria] is calling on the whole world to show some compassion and justice in the form of a 3-year-old boy Aylan's body,” Davutoğlu said.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)