Turkish first lady hosts NATO leaders’ spouses in Ankara

ANKARA

First lady Emine Erdoğan hosted the spouses and partners of leaders attending the 36th NATO Summit in Ankara on Wednesday, calling for stronger safeguards for children in the digital world.

Erdoğan welcomed the guests at Çankaya Mansion, where they attended a roundtable titled “Children, Technology and Security: Protecting the Next Generation.”

Addressing the meeting, Erdoğan said child safety should not be treated as an additional setting on digital platforms, but as “the first principle of design.”

“The black box of algorithms must be opened, and technology companies must submit the social impact of their products to independent audit,” she said.

Erdoğan said children’s exposure to digital platforms could not be left solely to profit-driven companies.

“Companies are responsible to their shareholders, while states are responsible to their nations,” she said, adding that governments had a duty to build a human-centered framework to protect children in the digital age.

She said Türkiye had sought to raise the issue internationally through its Children’s Rights in the Digital World initiative.

Erdoğan also pointed to domestic steps, including limits on social media access for children under 15, age verification requirements and parental control obligations for platforms.

She said the aim was not to deprive children of the opportunities offered by technology, but to ensure that those opportunities were suitable for their dignity, safety and development.

Several leaders’ spouses and partners also addressed the roundtable, including Brigitte Macron, the wife of the French president, and Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukraine’s president.

Participants from Lithuania, Finland, Romania, Poland, South Korea, Slovenia, Albania, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Montenegro, Estonia, Canada, Germany and the European Commission also attended, according to the program.

Following the meeting, Erdoğan hosted the guests for lunch featuring examples of Turkish cuisine, including fava, Urla artichoke, stuffed zucchini flowers, stuffed vine leaves, keşkek and Emiralem strawberries.

The guests later viewed a collection of traditional Turkish fabrics, embroidery and handicrafts reflecting Anatolian, Mesopotamian, Ottoman and Turkish cultural heritage.

The program ended with a family photo.