First Lady of Turkey Emine Erdogan wrote to US First Lady Melania Trump, stressing the urgent need for global humanitarian solidarity and calling for the protection of innocent civilians, especially children, in Gaza.
„I believe that the important sensitivity you showed towards the 648 Ukrainian children who lost their lives in the war will also be extended to Gaza, where within 2 years, 62,000 innocent civilians, including 18,000 children, were brutally killed," the letter reads.
„It would be extremely important if you send a letter to the Prime Minister of Israel Netanyahu, in which you reiterate your strong call for an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In these days, when the world is experiencing a collective awakening and the recognition of Palestine has become a global will, I believe that your appeal on behalf of Gaza would fulfill a historic responsibility to the Palestinian people.“
In her letter, which begins with warmest greetings and respect to Mrs. Melania Trump, First Lady Emine Erdoğan noted that her warm words and kind hospitality during their meeting at the White House in Washington remained vivid in her mind 6 years later.
Stateing that she felt that First Lady Melania Trump was extremely conscientious about the pressing issues of our time during their private dinner and garden walk, First Lady Emine Erdoğan noted that this moral sensitivity was reflected again in the letter that Melania Trump recently addressed to Putin, President of the Russian Federation.
“Your sensitivity to the children left behind orphans, is an initiative that inspires hope in the hearts of people.“
First Lady Emine Erdoğan noted that Mrs. Trump's words give voice to the shared conscience of humanity and that she deeply values this position:
„As you pointed out in your letter, the right of children to grow up in a loving and safe environment is universal and indisputable. This right is the privilege of any particular geography, race, ethnic identity, religious group or ideology. To support the oppressed, deprived of this right, is above all the fulfillment of a great responsibility towards our human family. Your sensitivity, especially as First Lady of the United States, to the shattered lives, torn families and children orphaned by the devastating consequences of the war in Ukraine is an initiative that inspires hope in the hearts of people. Your call to restore the joyful laughter of Ukrainian children, “who were forced to laugh silently“, is deeply meaningful.
“Could you ever imagine that the term “unknown soldier“, used for unidentified soldiers in wars, would one day be used for children?“
Emphasizing the fact that Gaza is witnessing unprecedented cruelty, that it is experiencing the most tragic genocide of our time, First Lady Emine Erdogan stated: “The United Nations Children's Fund likens the surface of Gaza, where a child is killed every 45 minutes, to “hell“, and the ground beneath Gaza – in a “children's cemetery“.
The words “unknown baby“, written on the shrouds of thousands of children from Gaza, who have no one behind them and whose names cannot even be identified, inflict irreparable wounds on our collective conscience. These children have been reduced to psychological devastation, have completely forgotten how to smile, cry into microphones, say they want to die, and carry in their innocent hearts the exhaustion of a war that is impossible for them to cope with. In Gaza, history records how the hair of small, orphaned children turns gray from the indescribable pain and fear they constantly endure.“
“It would be extremely important for you to send a letter reiterating your strong call for an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. In these days, when the world is experiencing a collective awakening and the recognition of Palestine has become a global will, I believe that your call on behalf of Gaza would fulfill a historic responsibility to the Palestinian people," the first lady of Turkey also wrote.
“We must unite our voices and strength against this distorted order“
Describing what is happening in Palestine as more than genocide, namely the imposition of an arbitrary international system where everyone and everything can be devalued for the sake of the interests and comfort of a privileged few, First Lady Emine Erdogan called for uniting their voices and strength against this distorted order, where the lives of children in some parts of the world are considered less valuable than others.
First Lady Emine Erdoğan stressed that they must defend the discredited rules of international law and our common human values and unite around our shared principle, and said: "Only then can we nurture the hope of the next generation," which is being driven to despair day after day in the face of this brutality. Only then can we talk about the possibility of restoring the joy of children whose laughter has been silenced, and of a sustainable and lasting peace throughout the world. As a mother, as a woman, and as a human being, I deeply share the feelings expressed in your letter, and I hope that you will give the same hope to the children of Gaza, who also yearn for peace and tranquility. It is already too late for the 18,885 babies and children from Gaza we have lost: like six-year-old Hind Rajab, killed by 335 bullets, and 3-year-old Rim, whose grandfather said goodbye to her as he kissed her once-bright, fading eyes. And yet, we still have a chance for the more than one million children from Gaza who managed to survive. Indeed, it is time.“ Emine Erdogan