Zainab Abbas, an Iraqi mother, accused Abdullah Kurdi of being a 'people smuggler' after she lost two children on the same boat that capsized and killed Kurdi’s family.
Speaking on Australian TV Channel Ten, Abbas said that it was Kurdi who was driving the boat and that he is responsible for the illegal carriage of refugees.
Sputnik’s correspondent managed to contact Abdullah Kurdi and ask what he thinks about these accusations.
“I cannot put into words how upset I was when I heard these charges. If I was a smuggler, would I have done that to my family? Would I have decided to send my wife and children on this trip? If I knew it was so dangerous, I would have never agreed to put them on the boat.”
He expressed his sorrow by saying that he lost his family and that the world has ceased to exist for him. But for other people life is going on and some of them clearly seem to be pursuing their goals.
He also mentioned that he had refused to accept the offers of many countries to grant him citizenship. “Now these varieties of rumors are spreading about me. All this upsets me incredibly. Currently, I am in Arbil (Iraq). I am trying to help and solve the problems of the local refugees here. After a few days I will go to Istanbul and from there again back to Kobani.”
Abdullah Kurdi also touched upon the theme of cartoons in a recent Charlie Hebdo publication, depicting the lifeless body of his 3-year-old son Aylan.
All about freedom of speech, but Charlie Hebdo have gone way too far with this cartoon of Aylan Kurdi pic.twitter.com/y2BLASWOOS
— Millie Fallon (@F4LLON_) 15 сентября 2015
The father of the boy said that he saw the images on the Internet and cannot find words that could describe his feelings regarding the publication of these cartoons. “The horrible images shocked not only me but many people around the world,” he said.
