Erdogan's wife calls on Melania Trump to speak up for Gaza's children

U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 11, 2025. [AFP]

Turkey's First Lady wrote to her US counterpart Melania Trump on Saturday, asking her to show the same concern for Gaza's children as she has shown for those of Ukraine.

Emine Erdogan asked Donald Trump's spouse to write to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show mercy to Gaza's children.

In a letter presented to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Alaska Summit earlier this month, she appealed to him to make peace in Ukraine for the sake of the children.

Turkey's First Lady wrote: "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.

"As a mother, as a woman, and as a human being, I deeply share the sentiments expressed in your letter, and I hope that you will give the same hope to the children of Gaza, who also yearn for peace and tranquillity," Emine wrote to Melania.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has tried to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine during the war, which is in its fourth year.

On Tuesday, he accused Israel of using hunger as a weapon in Gaza, saying the images coming from the Palestinian enclave were worse than "Nazi camps".

The United Nations on Friday officially declared a famine in Gaza, which Netanyahu dismissed as a "blatant lie".