Bodies of drowned Syrian boys returned home for burial

This handout photo courtesy of Tima Kurdi shows Alan Kurdi, left, and his brother Galib Kurdi. The body of 3-year-old Syrian Alan Kurdi was found on a Turkish beach after the small rubber boat he, his 5-year old brother Galib and their mother, Rehan, were in capsized during a desperate voyage from Turkey to Greece. The family stated that the spelling of the boys’ names had been changed by Turkish authorities to Aylan and Galip, but were in fact spelled as Alan and Galib. (Photo courtesy of Tima Kurdi /The Canadian Press via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

By Associated Press September 4, 2015 1 min read

KUCUK KENDIRLI, Turkey (AP) – The Syrian man who survived a capsizing during a desperate voyage from Turkey to Greece has taken the bodies of his wife and two sons back to the Syrian Kurdish region they fled, to bury them in their hometown of Kobani.

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.

A convoy of vehicles crossed into Kobani from the Turkish border town of Suruc 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.

Aylan drowned along with his 5-year-old brother Galip and his mother, Rehan while trying to reach the island of Kos.