Ministry launches investigation into Syrian child’s death in southern Turkey

ANTALYA

A seven-year-old Syrian child has died after being turned away from four hospitals in the southern Turkish province of Antalya due to his lack of a valid ID. 

Ali İzzettin Ahmed was rejected by four hospitals despite suffering from a high fever, and he lost his life after returning to his home in Antalya’s Muratpaşa district, Doğan News Agency reported on Jan. 4.

İzzettin Ahmed, the child’s father, realized his child was suffering from a high fever and initially took him to the Antalya Research and Training Hospital. They were rejected after Ahmed told the emergency staff that they were Syrians and he had no ID.

He then took his child to the Sütçüler State Hospital in Antalya’s Kepez district but was rejected for the same reason, followed by the Atatürk State Hospital and a child’s hospital in the Demircikara neighborhood. 

After the four rejections, Ahmed stopped looking for a hospital and took his son back to their house. He told Doğan News Agency that he found his son dead after he woke up at around 5 a.m. one morning. 

He called medical teams to the scene and young Ali İzzettin’s body was taken to the local forensic medicine institute for an autopsy, before being buried in the nearby Kurşunlu cemetery. 

Ahmed said he would be filing complaints against the hospitals that rejected his son. 

“My son was suffering from high fever. We went desperately from hospital to hospital but no one accepted us because we didn’t have an ID,” he said, adding that he now fears the same could happen to his two other sons.

“I have two other sons. What are we going to do if they suffer the same fate? We can’t send our children to schools anyway. We don’t want to make a fuss about it, but at least their treatment should be seen to,” he said.