Turkish President’s Wife Pledges To Keep Palestinian Children’s Voices Alive

By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL- Turkiye’s first lady Emine Erdogan is committed to raising awareness of the plight of Palestinian children in the international community so they are not forgotten. To that end, the Turkish president’s wife has vowed to keep their memories alive through events like the current art exhibition in Taksim Square entitled: “Bulletproof Dreams: Exhibition of Gazan Child Artists.” The event, organized by the Turkish Communications Directorate is a way to remind everyone of the suffering, trauma and pain the children of Gaza have endured and still endure. As Mrs. Erdogan commented: “We call on the world to take action as soon as possible to end this persecution and as Turkiye, under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, we are making intense efforts in this direction.” The exhibition features 266 artworks, some done by Gazan children who lost their lives in later attacks. The main feature of the painting project is based on a drawing of Mona, a six-year-old Gazan girl whose mother and 26 members of the same number of families were killed during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2008 and 2009. The project was initiated by prominent Turkish journalist Abdullah Aytekin.