(TURKISHJOURNAL) By Dilek Kaya – First Lady Emine Erdoğan, wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, sent a letter to U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, urging her to show the same sensitivity toward the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza as she did for children affected by the war in Ukraine. “I have faith that the important sensitivity you have shown for the 648 Ukrainian children who have lost their lives in the war will be extended to Gaza as well, where, in the span of two years, 62,000 innocent civilians, including 18,000 children, have been brutally killed,” she wrote.
“Your sensitivity for Ukraine must extend to Gaza”
In her letter, Emine Erdoğan recalled Melania Trump’s previous message to Russian President Vladimir Putin in which she highlighted the suffering of children in Ukraine. “The right of children to grow up in a loving and safe environment is universal. It is the privilege of no geography, race, religion, or ideology. Your sensitivity, particularly as the First Lady of the United States of America, to the lives destroyed, the families torn apart, and the children orphaned by the devastating effects of the war in Ukraine, is an initiative that inspires hope in people’s hearts. I have faith that this same sensitivity will be extended to Gaza as well.”
“From ‘unknown soldier’ to ‘unknown infant’”
Calling Gaza “the most tragic genocide of our time,” Erdoğan described the scale of the suffering: “The UN Children’s Fund likens the surface of Gaza, where one child is killed every 45 minutes, to ‘hell,’ and the ground beneath Gaza to a ‘children’s graveyard.’ Could you ever have imagined that the term ‘unknown soldier,’ once used for unidentified soldiers, would one day be used for children? The words ‘unknown infant,’ written on the shrouds of thousands of Gazan children with no surviving relatives and whose names cannot even be identified, inflict irreparable wounds on our conscience.”
Call to Write to Netanyahu
Emine Erdoğan appealed to Melania Trump to directly address Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding Gaza. “It would be profoundly meaningful if you were to send a letter, echoing your strong call for an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. These days, when the recognition of Palestine has become a global will, your call on behalf of Gaza would fulfill a historic responsibility toward the Palestinian people.”
“We must unite against this distorted order”
Erdoğan argued that what is happening in Palestine is not only genocide but also a reflection of a distorted international order. “In some parts of the world, children’s lives are considered less valuable than in others. We must unite our voices and strength against this distorted order. Only then can we nurture the hope of the next generation. Only then can we talk about restoring joy to silenced children and achieving lasting peace.”
“Too late for thousands, but still a chance”
Closing her letter with an emotional appeal, Emine Erdoğan said: “It is already too late for the 18,885 Gazan children we have lost — like six-year-old Hind Rajab, killed by 335 bullets, and three-year-old Reem, whose grandfather kissed her fading eyes in farewell. Yet we still have a chance for more than one million Gazan children who have survived. Indeed, it is time.”
