political figure

Aylan Kurdi

إيلان كردي

Journeys

The Photograph That Changed Europe's Mind

Aylan Kurdi was three years old. He drowned trying to reach safety in Europe. A Turkish photojournalist's photograph of his body on the beach reached more people in 24 hours than years of statistics about the refugee crisis. It changed policy, opened borders — briefly — and put a child's face on a war Europe had chosen not to see.

Biography

Alan Kurdi, initially reported as Aylan Kurdi, was a two-year-old Syrian boy of Kurdish ethnic background whose image made global headlines after he drowned on 2 September 2015 in the Mediterranean Sea along with his mother and brother. Alan and his family were Syrian refugees trying to reach Europe from Turkey amid the European refugee crisis. Photographs of his body were taken by Turkish journalist Nilüfer Demir and quickly went viral, prompting international responses. Since the Kurdi family had reportedly been trying to reach Canada, his death and the wider refugee crisis became an issue i

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Key Facts

Born:2012-06-03

Place:Kobani (Ayn al-Arab), Syria

Died:2015-09-02

Nationality:Syrian-Kurdish