Emine Erdoğan Urges Melania Trump to Extend Compassion to Gaza Crisis

Ankara, The Gulf Observer: Turkish First Lady Emine Erdoğan has sent a heartfelt letter to U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, calling on her to extend the compassion she expressed regarding the war in Ukraine to the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

In her letter, Erdoğan greeted Trump with “sincere love and respect,” recalling their meeting at the White House six years ago and the warm hospitality she experienced during that visit. Referring to a recent letter Trump sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine, Erdoğan commended her sentiments as reflecting “a conscience deeply attuned to global issues.”

She praised Trump’s compassion for orphaned children in Ukraine, describing it as “an initiative that instills hope in people’s hearts,” but urged her to show the same sensitivity for Gaza, where, according to Erdoğan, 62,000 civilians, including 18,000 children, have been killed in the past two years.

Citing UNICEF’s description of Gaza as both “a hell on earth” and “a graveyard for children,” Erdoğan highlighted the unprecedented suffering endured by Palestinian children. “The words ‘unknown baby’ written on the shrouds of thousands of Gazan children… are leaving irreparable wounds on our consciences,” she wrote, stressing the need to address what she described as “genocide” and a broken global order that values some lives above others.

Erdoğan appealed to Melania Trump to send a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying such a move would “fulfill a historic responsibility to the Palestinian people” at a time when recognition of Palestine is gaining international momentum.

“As a mother, a woman, and a human being, I deeply share the emotions expressed in your letter,” she wrote. “I hope you will nurture the same hope for Gaza’s children, who long for peace and serenity.”

Erdoğan concluded by emphasizing the urgency of action to save more than one million surviving children in Gaza: “For those already lost, it is too late. But for the children who have survived, we still have a chance. The time is long overdue.”