Turkish policeman who found Aylan ‘thought of his own son’

Speaking to Turkey’s Dogan news agency, Mehmet Ciplak recounted how he prayed the little boy was still alive as he walked towards him and scooped him up from the water’s edge.

Abdullah Kurdi, whose family drowned off Turkey, stands in front of his neighbour’s house in Kobani, Syria, yesterday. Yasin Akgul / AFP

Istanbul // The Turkish police officer who was pictured picking up the lifeless body of three-year-old Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi – whose death pricked the world’s conscience – said he thought of his own son when he saw the toddler on the beach.

Officer Mehmet Ciplak recounted how he prayed the little boy was still alive as he walked towards him and scooped him up from the water’s edge.

“When I approached the baby, I said to myself, ‘Dear God I hope he’s alive.’ But he showed no signs of life. I was crushed,” he said.

“I have a six-year-old son. The moment I saw the baby, I thought about my own son and put myself into his father’s place. Words cannot describe what a sad and tragic sight it was.”

Aylan’s five-year-old brother, Ghalib, and their mother, Rihana, also drowned when their boat sank.

Mr Ciplak said he didn’t know the photo was being taken. “I was just doing my job.”

Twelve refugees drowned on Wednesday when two boats sank on the short crossing to Greece and images of Aylan’s lifeless body washed ashore in Bodrum in south-west Turkey sparked international outrage over Europe’s migrant crisis.

Aylan was buried on Friday in the Syrian town of Kobani, itself now a symbol of resistance by Syrian Kurds against ISIL extremists.

His father, Abdullah, was the only family member to survive and has returned to Kobani to be close to the graves of his wife and children.

* Agence France-Presse