Erdogan offers Aylan Kurdi’s father Turkish nationality

The father of two Syrian boys who drowned last week off the Turkish coast of Bodrum on their way to the Greek island of Kos has told Egyptian media that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to give him Turkish nationality.

Abdallah Kurdi, who also lost his wife Rehana as the boat they were on capsized, told Egyptian TV anchor Wael al-Ibrashi on Saturday that he had spoken to several high ranking Turkish officials, who gave him their condolences.

I don’t care about the West, I want to hear from Arab countries - Abdallah Kurdi

“[Erdogan] offered to give me Turkish nationality, which I’d accept because the Turkish government has done for me what no one else has. I’m honoured but I’m not going to accept the offer at this time,” said Kurdi.

“The Turkish government has really helped me out with the burial and funeral costs, they got me large planes to transport the bodies all the way to Kobane, which is very far from Bodrum,” he added.

Kurdi said he had spoken with several other political figures including, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, former Turkish president Abdullah Gul and a senior official from the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq.

“From the Arab states no officials have spoken me except for a Kuwaiti, and the rest were Egyptians. I don’t care about the West, I want to hear from Arab countries,” he added.

After the shocking image Kurdi’s son Aylan went viral, Arab Gulf countries have come under fire for their lack of support and resettlement for fleeing Syrian refugees.

Last week, Kurdi rejected an offer from the Canadian government for citizenship in the aftermath of last week’s tragic events, his privately-sponsored refugee application to Canada was rejected in June.

Kurdi’s sister Tima, who immigrated to Canada 20 years ago, told local media that the rejection was based on complications with applications from Turkey.