Turkish First Lady likens Gaza’s slain children to ‘unknown soldiers’ in letter to Melania Trump

ANKARA(Turkey): Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan has urged to US First Lady Melania Trump to show the same compassion for Gaza’s children as she did for Ukraine, warning that thousands of Palestinian children are now being buried under the name “unknown baby,” Anadolu reported.

In a letter to the US First Lady, Erdogan urged her to write directly to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Sending a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza would carry immense significance,” she wrote.

Recalling their meeting at the White House six years ago, Erdogan praised Melania Trump’s past humanitarian stance, as per Anadolu.

She pointed to Melania Trump’s letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine war, saying the “sentiments expressed in that letter reflected a conscience deeply attuned to global issues.”

“As you stated in your letter, every child has the universal and undeniable right to grow up in a loving and safe environment. This right is not exclusive to any region, ethnicity, religion, or ideology. Supporting the oppressed who are denied this right is fundamental responsibility toward the human family, Erdogan said.

She added, “In this context, especially as the spouse of a leader, your compassion for the lives lost, families torn apart, and children left orphaned under the devastating effects of the war in Ukraine is an initiative that instils hope in hearts.”

Arguing that Gaza faces far worse devastation, Erdogan wrote, “I believe that you will demonstrate this important sensitivity, which you have shown for the 648 Ukrainian children who lost their lives in the war, even more strongly for Gaza, where 62,000 innocent civilians, including 18,000 children, were brutally murdered within two years.”

Drawing a stark comparison, she said, “Would it ever have occurred to us that one day the term ‘unknown soldier’, once used for fallen soldiers whose identities could not be confirmed, would be used for children?”

“Today, the words ‘unknown baby’ written on the shrouds of thousands of Gazan children who have no one left behind them and whose names cannot even be identified are leaving irreparable wounds on our consciences,” Erdogan added.

Citing UNICEF’s description of Gaza as “a hell on earth above ground and a graveyard for children below,” she described the trauma endured by survivors, “These children, driven into deep psychological ruin and having completely forgotten how to smile, scream into microphones that they want to die, carrying the exhaustion of a war they cannot cope with in their innocent hearts. In Gaza, history records that the hair of these tiny, orphaned children has turned grey from the indescribable pain and fear they have endured.”

Erdogan said the crisis represents not just genocide but “a manifestation of an arbitrary international order that deems some lives more valuable than others.”

She called for global solidarity, “We must unite our voices and strength against this distorted order that views the lives of some children as less valuable than others. We have a duty to uphold international law and shared human values, and to stand firm around our common principles, ” Anadolu reported.

The appeal comes after Melania Trump sent a letter to President Putin urging an end to the Ukraine war over its impact on children. (ANI)