Four people missing after boat capsizes in Evros River as trying to escape from persecution in Turkey

A woman and her three children went missing after a boat carrying several Turkish asylum seekers who fled Turkey due to an ongoing government crackdown on followers of the Gülen movement capsized in the Evros River along the Turkey-Greece border on Wednesday night, Euronews Turkish reported.

The news outlet identified the missing as 36-year-old Hatice Akçabay and her three sons, seven-year-old Ahmet Esat, five-year-old Mesut and one-year-old Aras.

The children’s father, Murat Akçabay, and four other people on the boat were rescued. Greek officials told Euronews they are being kept at a police station on the Turkish border.

Rescue teams from Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) were reportedly working to save the woman and her three children on the Turkish part of the river.

News of the incident was first tweeted by Turkish journalist Cevheri Güven, who called on international organizations to take action to rescue the missing people.

“A boat carrying Turkish purge victims capsized on the Evros River in Greece, a mother and 3 children lost, one child was wearing a life vest, they all may be alive, rescue units must urgently be deployed to the area @UNHCRGreece @Refugees_Gr,” Güven tweeted early Thursday.

Writer Cemil Tokpınar claimed the same day that Greek border police had located the missing people on an islet in the river.

Murat Akçabay, who was kept under custody at the Isakio station in Dimetoka, told Turkish media outlet Bold TV what they have lived in Evros River early Thursday morning. He said that “We, as nine people, had got on a plastic inflatable boat. Two smugglers had also got on the boat. We were 11 people as a total. I think that we hit a rock-like object in the middle of the river. The boat got punched and it started turning around. Then the boat capsized suddenly and all of us fell into water.”

Saying that the members of the other family on the boat could held some branches in the other side of the river, Akçabay added that “My wife and I stayed in the middle of the river while trying to rescue our children. My wife was carrying our little baby. I was also trying to hold our other two children. My 7-year-old son, Ahmet Esat, had a lifebuoy. So, he was able to stay on the water. But my other son fell to the water. My wife was also dragged on by the current. I saw her last time as she was holding a tree. I cried her and said that ‘Do not ever leave the branch, Hatice. I will save you.’ Unfortunately, as I was trying to cope with the stream and waves in the river I realised that she was not there anymore. I have never seen and heard her again.”

Thousands of people have fled Turkey due to a massive witch-hunt launched by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government against sympathizers of the Gülen movement in the wake of a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. The government accuses the movement of masterminding the coup while the latter denies involvement.

More than 150,000 people have been detained and some 80,000 including academics, judges, doctors, teachers, lawyers, students, policemen and many from different backgrounds have been put in pre-trial detention since the failed putsch.

Many tried to flee Turkey via illegal means as the government cancelled the passports of thousands of people.

On Feb. 13, at least three people died and five others went missing after another boat carrying a group of eight capsized in the Evros River while seeking to escape the post-coup crackdown in Turkey. (SCF with turkishminute.com)

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from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/four-people-missing-after-boat-capsizes-in-evros-river-as-trying-to-escape-from-persecution-in-turkey/