THE 18-month-old baby of Gökhan Kurtaran-Duygu Ağaç, who lost his life after tragically falling from the 9th floor of the apartment block they live in Tottenham, was laid to rest.
On Friday 22 over 1,500 people from the community, family of baby Ali from Germany and France also travelled as he took his last journey and laid to rest. Ali’s small body was taken from the Alevi Cultural Center of England and Cemevi (IAKM-Cemevi) in Wood Green on Friday morning and brought to the cemetery.
The British Alevi Federation (BAF) Faith Committee Member Doğan Erdoğan led the march into the children’s section of the cemetery. At the funeral ceremony, his father Gökhan Kurtaran, his uncle Doğan Ağaç and his cousin Elif Karakaş released three white doves into the air. Then dozens of white balloons were released into the sky. Following the burial, relatives of the funeral accepted condolences.
Due to the intense participation in the meeting room did not fit the cemevi. Those who came to condolence were offered bite (baklava-halva).
On Thursday, October 31, while his mother was preparing a meal in the kitchen, Baby Ali got up from the bed and went to the broken window of the apartment facing the building’s front, where it was reported that Ali had fallen down from the 9th floor.
The incident was expressed as negligence of the local council. Baby Ali’s grandfather Hıdır Kurtaran, said “We had notified the local authorities by e-mail one month in advance that the window should be repaired. They were not interested. A week before the event, they said they would come and make repairs on Monday. Unfortunately, we lost our grandson on Thursday. We will continue to struggle so that other children do not suffer the same fate again, that people waiting for months for repairs in council houses and do not live in bad conditions.” Kurtaran finally said, “All our friends and lovers are here to wish for condolences and to share our suffering. We thank them all.”
News and Images: Halil Yetkinlioğlu (translated)