Alan Kurdi

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Wall painting in Frankfurt's Osthafen based on the published images (2016)

Alan Kurdi (born 2012 ; died September 2, 2015 near Bodrum ) was a two-year-old Syrian boy of Kurdish descent whose body was washed up on the Turkish Mediterranean coast after drowning . The film and photo recordings published from it attracted worldwide attention in September 2015 in the wake of the refugee crisis in Europe .

prehistory

The Kurdi family (originally Shenu) fled the Syrian civil war from Damascus to Aleppo in 2012 . When the civil war intensified there, too, she fled to Ain al-Arab . The father moved to Turkey alone and worked there in the textile industry for two years. When the bombing of Kobani began, he brought his family to Turkey.

After the efforts in Vancouver were to organize living aunt of Kurdi, a legal transfer to Canada, failed, the family decided using tugs the Greek island of Kos to achieve. The first two attempts failed. For the last attempt, the family paid the smugglers 2050 euros per member. During this attempt to cross the Mediterranean on a tugboat, the boat crashed. Life jackets were not provided by the smugglers. After the boat capsized, Alan, his five-year-old brother Galip and his mother Rehan were killed, only his father Abdullah survived.

The boy's body was washed up on the Turkish coast near Bodrum on September 2, 2015 , as was his mother's body and his brother's body about a hundred meters away. He was buried on September 4, 2015 in Kobanê with his brother and mother. On the same day, the suspected smugglers were arrested and charged with negligent homicide and people smuggling. Some time after the accident, an Iraqi woman who was also on board the boat and had lost two children in the accident claimed to the Australian press that Alan Kurdi's father, Abdullah Kurdi, was one of the smugglers and had steered the boat from the start have. Abdullah Kurdi denied this allegation that he had only tried to take the helm after the Turkish captain jumped overboard. So far, he has not been one of those responsible by the Turkish authorities.

The father gave contradicting versions to the largest Turkish media group Dogan and the dpa as to whether a tug was on board and whether the tug had organized the third attempt or the group itself (“The third time we procured a rubber dinghy with our own means and started to row. ”) and how he lost his wife and children and whether there were safety vests on board. " We had safety vests, but suddenly people got up and the boat capsized " (his wife and children were non-swimmers). A total of 12 people died from 2 inflatable boats.

There are allegations that the photo of the dead boy was taken or that his father only escaped to get free dental treatment. There is no valid evidence for any of these claims. However, there are interviews with the father in which he claims to have started the crossing from Turkey to Greece for health and economic reasons ("I had no access to health care. So I thought about going to Germany", "You can't imagine [missing comma: sic] the terrible conditions we lived in Turkey. If you knew, you could understand that we wanted to leave. The work and the apartment were bad. It was like war, only in one other form. ").

Image and video recordings

Photos of the dead child during the recovery triggered considerable reactions in politics, the press and social networks. The photos are from the Turkish photojournalist Nilüfer Demir , who works for the DHA news agency . She took the picture around 6 a.m. She later reported: "I wanted to make the boy's silent scream audible."

One shot shows the dead child, clothed, shoes still on, lying on his stomach in the wet sand. The child was carried off the beach by a Turkish policeman, Mehmet Ciplak. Other photos also show the dead brother and mother. In the press there were other recordings that show the child still alive, laughing or sleeping, also together with his brother who also died.

Abdullah Kurdi said he was in agreement with the publication of the photos: “It was right that the media showed the photo. People are not allowed to look the other way about what is terrible on the way to Europe just because they do not want to give us a visa beforehand. Every time I hear again that a boat has sunk, I start to cry. "

Reactions

In an interview with Spiegel Online, media ethicist Alexander Filipović described the photo of the dead child in the sand as a drastic shot with a deeply sad aesthetic. He estimates that the picture will develop into a photo icon , as it symbolically reflects the complexity and diversity of the refugee crisis in one moment. For Michael Bröcker , editor-in-chief of the Rheinische Post , it is “the picture of the greatest humanitarian tragedy in Europe since the Second World War”. The photo is in effect already world by 1972 at the height of the Vietnam War photograph taken of of napalm burned girl Phan Thi Kim Phuc compared that to the World Press Photo of the Year elected in 1972 and for his photographer Nick Ut with the Pulitzer Prize was awarded .

At the same time there was also a discussion about the publication of the pictures. As a protest against the critics of the publication of the pictures, the newspaper with the highest circulation in Germany, the Bild -Zeitung, did not print any pictures in its print edition of September 8, 2015, and no pictures appeared on its website until 12 noon.

The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published two caricatures by Laurent Sourisseau on September 15, 2015, alluding to Kurdi's death . One cartoon shows the dead boy lying on the beach; next to him is a sign showing Ronald McDonald . The sign is labeled with the words “Special offer: two children's menus for the price of one” . The cartoon is headed “So close to the goal ...” . The other cartoon, titled “Proof that Europe is Christian,” shows the boy with his torso in the water and his legs sticking out. Above the boy's drawing, a speech bubble reads “Muslim children are drowning” . Next to him, a figure who looks like Jesus Christ floats on the water. The corresponding speech bubble is provided with the words “Christians walk on water” . The cartoons sparked discussions on social networks and were criticized.

Activists from the field of human rights emphasized that the publication of the pictures is important.

politics

International politics reacted to the picture in the same way. The Canadian Minister for Citizenship and Immigration, Chris Alexander, broke off his campaign for the upcoming elections to discuss the current crisis in Ottawa.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and the British government showed a willingness to take in more civil war refugees in the face of the pictures. To curb growing popular pressure on the British government, Cameron announced in an announcement on September 7th that it would take in 20,000 refugees from Syria over the next five years. The opposition considered the number to be too small due to the long period of time, although initially only 4,000 refugees were mentioned.

At a meeting in Ankara, the Turkish president criticized Recep Tayyip Erdogan , the refugee policy of the European Union . The Mediterranean has degenerated into a "refugee cemetery". In his speech he also explicitly referred to the fate of Alan Kurdi: “The body of a three-year-old child was washed up on our coast. Mustn't all of humanity be made responsible for it? "

In a guest article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , the Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu , offered to work with the European Union on refugee issues: “It is time to act together.” He also criticized the previous European contribution to overcoming the crisis by he described the pictures of Alan Kurdi as a symbol of the humanitarian catastrophe. For the guest contribution he took Kurdi's fate as an introduction to his criticism.

Campaigns

The online platform Avaaz made an urgent appeal to all EU ministers to take drastic measures due to the fate of Alan. The online petition “ Nobody should drown anymore! “Has already been signed by over 1.2 million people.

A petition initiated by The Independent newspaper , which was intended to persuade David Cameron to accept more refugees through Great Britain , has been running on Change.org since September 3, 2016 . A debate in the UK Parliament will be considered for petitions with more than 100,000 supporters . The petition uses the picture of Alan Kurdi and has over 380,000 supporters. The fate of Kurdi is an essential reason for taking in more refugees in Great Britain and for rescheduling refugee policy.

Criminal law

Two Syrian men were sentenced in March 2016 by a court in Bodrum to more than four years in prison for people smuggling. The allegation was that they caused the death of Alan Kurdi and his family members negligently. In March 2020, another Turkish court sentenced three leaders of a gang of smugglers to prison terms of 125 years each for “murder with possible intent”.

art

At the beginning of January 2016, a cartoon appeared in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in which the press suggested that the late Kurdi would have participated in the New Year's Eve attacks in Cologne in 2015 if he had survived the escape. This criticizes the reactions of the press to the sexual assault on New Year's Eve. At the end of January 2016, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei recreated the image of Alan by lying on his stomach on a beach. The photo appeared as part of an interview in the Indian newspaper India today . Sandy Angus, co-founder of the India Art Fair, described Ai Weiwei's picture as "iconic, political and human".

The smeared mural
The second version with teddy bears

At the beginning of March 2016, the artists Justus “Cor” Becker and Oğuz Şen sprayed a graffiti copy of the photo entitled “Europe, Money and Death” with the permission of the City of Frankfurt on an area belonging to them on a bridge over the Main near the ECB. Unknown smeared the 120 square meter mural on March 16, 2016 with white paint. The day after, artist Oğuz Şen is not very surprised by the vandalism. "After there was such an uproar on the Internet, I knew it was going to happen," he said. On the night of June 22nd, 2016, the picture with the slogans borders save lives! and Fuck Antifa , which are used in the context of the Identitarian Movement . The police took a report and forwarded the incident to the state security. At the end of June 2016, the artist laid out the wall and painted it with a new motif. It shows a smiling Alan who is protected by teddy bears.

Sea rescue

In February 2019, the ship of the sea rescue organization Sea-Eye , which had previously been sailing under the name of Professor Albrecht Penck, was named Alan Kurdi .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heike Faller: Alan Kurdi: Without him . In: The time . January 28, 2016, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed January 28, 2018]).
  2. ↑ Helena Smith: Aylan Kurdi: friends and family fill in gaps behind harrowing images. In: The Guardian . September 3, 2015, accessed September 5, 2015 .
  3. ↑ "I wanted my children to be treated like people". In: The world . September 9, 2015, accessed March 6, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Sevilay Kirmaz-Kehl, Laura Gehrmann, John Puthenpurackal: The far too short life of Aylan (3). In: image . September 4, 2015, accessed September 7, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Jessica Elgot: Father of drowned boy Aylan Kurdi plans to return to Syria. In: The Guardian. September 3, 2015, accessed September 4, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Refugee children buried in Kobane. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . September 4, 2015, accessed September 13, 2015.
  7. ↑ Alleged human smugglers charged in Turkey. In: T-Online . September 3, 2015, accessed September 5, 2015 .
  8. ^ Alan Kurdi's father not a people smuggler, family says . CBC News, Sept. 11, 2015
  9. ↑ https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article146022420/Sein-Vater-will-nicht-mehr-nach-Kanada-er-will-nach-Kobani.html
  10. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/22/abdullah-kurdi-father-boy-on-beach-alan-refugee-tragedy
  11. ↑ https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article146187747/Wollte-dass-man-meine-Kinder-wie-Menschen-behelten.html
  12. ↑ https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article150031408/Wir-wollten-ein-besseres-Leben-now-sind-sie-tot.html
  13. ↑ Claire Guillot: "J'aimerais vraiment que ma photo puisse aider à changer le cours des choses". In: Le Monde . September 3, 2015, accessed September 4, 2015 .
  14. ↑ The cry of the dead boy. In: Tagesschau.de . September 3, 2015, archived from the original on September 4, 2015 ; Retrieved September 4, 2015 .
  15. ↑ Cenk Cigdem: "I wanted to make the boy's silent scream audible". In: Rheinische Post . September 3, 2015, accessed September 9, 2015 .
  16. ↑ Dead refugee boy Aylan Kurdi: Policeman thought of his own son. In: n-tv.de . September 6, 2015, accessed September 9, 2015 .
  17. ↑ father of the dead boy refugee Aylan: "IS fighters took off my front teeth" In: Focus , September 26, 2015.
  18. ↑ Peter Maxwill: "Such images burn themselves into the retina". In: Spiegel Online . September 3, 2015, accessed September 4, 2015 .
  19. ↑ Michael Bröcker : The picture of the crisis. In: Rheinische Post , September 4, 2015.
  20. ↑ Mediterranean: With force through the perception armor. In: The time . September 3, 2015, accessed September 4, 2015 .
  21. ↑ Joe Parkinson, Istanbul, David George-Cosh, Toronto: Image of Drowned Syrian Boy Echoes Around World. In: Wall Street Journal . September 3, 2015, accessed September 4, 2015 .
  22. ↑ Is it okay to show the dead refugee child? In: Bildblog . September 4, 2015, accessed September 6, 2015 .
  23. ↑ Julian Reichelt : Why we have to force ourselves to look. In: image . September 8, 2015.
  24. ↑ Why BILD didn't show any pictures today! In: Image September 8, 2015.
  25. ^ "Charlie Hebdo" caricatures dead Aylan. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . Retrieved September 16, 2015 .
  26. ↑ Charlie Hebdo shows caricatures with a dead refugee child. In: Rheinische Post . Retrieved September 16, 2015 .
  27. ^ Joachim Huber: "Charlie Hebdo" with Aylan caricature. In: Der Tagesspiegel . Retrieved September 16, 2015 .
  28. ↑ Thomas Hanke: Charlie Hebdo gambled away sympathies. In: Handelsblatt . Retrieved September 17, 2015 .
  29. ^ Robert Mackey: Brutal Images of Syrian Boy Drowned Off Turkey Must Be Seen, Activists Say. In: The New York Times , September 2, 2015.
  30. ↑ Canada says it never denied a refugee application for Alan Kurdi and his family. In: National Post . September 3, 2015, accessed September 4, 2015 .
  31. ↑ Lizzie Dearden: Aylan Kurdi: Syrian boy's family took deadly voyage after Canada refused refugee application. In: The Independent . September 3, 2015, accessed September 4, 2015 .
  32. ↑ Patrick Wintour: UK to take up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over five years, David Cameron confirms. In: The Guardian. September 7, 2015, accessed September 7, 2015 .
  33. ↑ Cameron wants to get 4,000 Syrians straight from refugee camps. In: The time . September 4, 2015, accessed September 7, 2015 .
  34. ↑ Police arrest suspected smugglers of the drowned boy. In: Spiegel Online . September 3, 2015, accessed September 5, 2015 .
  35. ↑ Ahmed Davutoglu : The Loss of Innocence. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . September 7, 2015, accessed September 7, 2015 .
  36. ↑ Nobody should drown anymore! In: Avaaz . Retrieved September 6, 2015 .
  37. ↑ a b Cameron wants to bring refugees directly from Syria's borders. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . September 4, 2015, accessed September 4, 2015 .
  38. ↑ David Cameron: Britain must accept its fair share of refugees seeking safety in Europe. In: Change.org . Retrieved September 4, 2015 (petition).
  39. ↑ Susanne Güsten: Dead Syrian Boy: The von Ailan family apparently wanted to go to Germany. In: Tagesspiegel . September 4, 2015, accessed September 4, 2015 .
  40. ↑ Jochen Buchsteiner: The discovery of morality. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . September 4, 2015, accessed September 4, 2015 .
  41. ↑ Safak Timur: Turks sentence 2 in deaths of boy and other migrants. International New York Times, 5./6. March 2016, p. 6
  42. ↑ Imprisonment for the murder of Aylan Kurdi , tagesschau.de, March 14, 2020
  43. ^ "Charlie Hebdo" provokes Alan Kurdi, a "butt-grabber in Germany" with a cartoon about Cologne , Der Tagesspiegel, January 14, 2016
  44. ^ Criticism of "Charlie Hebdo": That is why the Aylan cartoon is not racist , stern.de, January 14, 2016
  45. ↑ Ai Weiwei poses as Aylan Kurdi. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , February 1, 2016.
  46. ↑ Chinese artist Ai Weiwei poses as a drowned Syrian refugee toddler
  47. ↑ https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.kuenstler-in-frankfurt-graffiti- shows- ertrunkenen-fluechtlingsjungen.5b3be5b7-c0c9-4a4a- 85e9-17930d74850d.html
  48. ↑ Little Aylan has never been forgotten
  49. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from March 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  50. ^ Hessenschau.de, Frankfurt, Germany: giant painting with dead refugee child destroyed in Frankfurt | hessenschau.de | Culture. (No longer available online.) In: hessenschau.de. Archived from the original on June 22, 2016 ; accessed on June 22, 2016 .
  51. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from July 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  52. ↑ Rescuers want to return this week , Der Tagesspiegel, February 13, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Kurdi, Alan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kurdi, Aylan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Syrian escape victim
DATE OF BIRTH 2012
DATE OF DEATH 2nd September 2015
Place of death at Bodrum