23.08.2025 15:14
Emine Erdoğan, the wife of President Erdoğan, sent a letter to Melania Trump, the wife of President Trump, calling for support for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Erdoğan stated, "The sensitivity shown towards Ukrainian children should also be shown towards the children of Gaza. We still have a chance for the more than 1 million Gazan children who have managed to survive."
Emine Erdoğan, the wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, sent a letter to Melania Trump, the wife of U.S. President Donald Trump, urging her to show the same sensitivity she has demonstrated regarding the war in Ukraine for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
In her letter, Emine Erdoğan began by greeting Melania Trump with heartfelt love and respect, noting that the warm conversation and elegant hospitality of Melania Trump during their meetings at the White House in Washington still remain fresh in her mind even after six years. Emine Erdoğan expressed that during the dinner they shared and the walk they took in the garden, she felt that Trump had a conscience sensitive to current issues. She also mentioned that she saw a reflection of this moral sensitivity in a letter Melania Trump recently wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"YOUR REQUEST TO BRING BACK THE JOYFUL SMILES OF UKRAINIAN CHILDREN IS VERY MEANINGFUL"
Emine Erdoğan stated that she believes the words written in Trump's letter resonate with the common feelings of humanity and that she appreciates this valuable stance. She used the following expressions:
"As you mentioned in your letter, the right of children to grow up in a loving and safe environment is a universal and indisputable right. And this right is not the privilege of any geography, race, ethnic identity, religious group, or ideology. Therefore, standing by the oppressed who are deprived of this right is primarily fulfilling a great responsibility towards the human family. In this context, especially as a leader's wife, your sensitivity to the lives lost, the families torn apart, and the orphaned children under the devastating effects of the war in Ukraine is an initiative that instills hope in hearts. Your request to bring back the joyful smiles of Ukrainian children who are 'forced into a silent laughter' is very meaningful. I believe that you will show this important sensitivity, which you have demonstrated for the 648 Ukrainian children who lost their lives in the war, even more strongly for the 62,000 innocent civilians, including 18,000 children, who have been brutally killed in Gaza over the past two years."
"THE TERM 'UNKNOWN BABY' WRITTEN ON THE SHROUDS OF GAZA CHILDREN HARMS OUR CONSCIENCES"
Emine Erdoğan emphasized that Gaza has witnessed unprecedented cruelty and the most painful genocide of the age, stating the following in her letter:
"The UN Children's Fund likens Gaza, where one child is killed every 45 minutes, to a 'hell' above ground for children and a 'graveyard for children' below ground. Could you have imagined that one day we would use the term 'unknown soldier,' which is used for unidentified soldiers in wars, for children as well? Today, the term 'unknown baby' written on the shrouds of thousands of Gazan children, who have no one left behind and whose names cannot even be identified, opens unhealable wounds in our consciences. These children, who are dragged into a deep psychological collapse and have completely forgotten how to smile, are shouting into the microphones that they want to die and carry the fatigue of a war they cannot cope with in their innocent hearts. History in Gaza writes that the little orphaned children have gray hairs from the indescribable pain and fears they have experienced."
"YOU SHOULD SEND A LETTER CONTAINING YOUR STRONG CALL TO NETANYAHU"
Emine Erdoğan stated that those whose laughter has been silenced are not only the children of Ukraine, but that the children of Palestine also deserve the same joy, the same freedom, and the same dignified future. She said, "It would be extremely meaningful for you to send a letter containing your strong call for the cessation of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. In these days when the world has entered a common awakening and the recognition of Palestine has turned into a global will, I believe that a call from you on behalf of Gaza would also fulfill a historical responsibility towards the Palestinian people."
Emine Erdoğan evaluated the events in Palestine as an imposition of a capricious international system that devalues everyone and everything for the benefit and comfort of a group of people, beyond a genocide, calling for the voices and powers of children in some parts of the world, who are seen as less valuable than others, to unite against this distorted order.
"WE STILL HAVE A CHANCE FOR OVER 1 MILLION GAZAN CHILDREN"
Emine Erdoğan emphasized that they are obliged to defend the discredited rules of international law and common humanitarian values, and to unite around shared principles, stating:
"Only then can we nurture the hopes of the next generations who are being driven into despair day by day in the face of this brutality. Only then can we speak of the possibility of bringing joy back to the children whose laughter has been silenced and of a sustainable and lasting peace worldwide. I deeply share the feelings in your letter as a mother, a woman, and a human being, and I hope you will also nurture the same hope for the children of Gaza who are thirsty for peace and tranquility. It is too late for the 18,885 Gazan babies and children we have lost, like 6-year-old Hind Recep, who was killed by 335 bullets and said goodbye by kissing her grandfather's joy-filled eyes, and 3-year-old Rim. But we still have a chance for over 1 million Gazan children who have managed to survive. The time has come."