A court in Turkey has sentenced two Syrian smugglers to four years and two months in prison each following the death of toddler Alan Kurdi and four other people, according to Turkey’s state-run news agency.
Anadolu agency said on Friday the court convicted Muwafaka Alabash and Asem Alfrhad of human trafficking but acquitted the men of causing death through deliberate negligence.
Alan, three, his brother, Galip, five, and their mother, Rehan Kurdi, were among five people who drowned last year when their boat sank on the journey from Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos.
The image of Alan’s body lying face down on a Turkish beach galvanised world attention on the refugee crisis.
Trials in Turkey usually take months even years to conclude. But Friday’s verdict, which came just a month after the trial opened, appeared to be an effort by the country to show it was cracking down on human traffickers, days before a summit on the migration crisis in Brusselsbetween Turkey and the EU.
Alabash and Alfrhad had denied any responsibility in the deaths. Instead, they blamed Alan’s father, Abdullah Kurdi, accusing him of organising the trip. Prosecutors had sought maximum 35 years in prison for each. Kurdi has since returned to Syria.
Turkey has been under pressure to reduce the number of people coming toEurope and to combat the smuggling rings since it reached a deal with the EU in November. Under the deal, Turkey is to receive a €3bn (£2.3bn) to help it deal with Syrian refugees.
Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, is scheduled to meet the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for key talks on the migrant crisis on Friday. Tusk has said the number of people trying to enter the EU via Turkey remained “far too high”.
His meeting in Istanbul is the last stage in a regional tour, which has also taken in Greece and Slovenia, before the Turkey-EU summit on Monday.
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