President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on April 23 that innocent children continue to pay the highest price for wars and oppression in the region, despite efforts to restore peace.
Erdoğan was speaking at TRT’s 48th International April 23 Children’s Festival Gala Program in Ankara.
“Living in a country and world free of war, conflict, violence, deprivation and poverty is the most natural right of children,” Erdoğan said, adding that Türkiye was working to stop conflicts and wipe away children’s tears so that all children could live in peace, security and brotherhood.
Marking National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, Erdoğan said he wished “a life full of peace and happiness” for children in Türkiye and across the world.
He also sent greetings to Palestinian and Lebanese children, saying they were being forced to carry the burden of war and conflict on their “small shoulders.”
He said all children and young people should be able to go to school, receive the best education possible, sleep without fear and wake up to birdsong rather than bombs.
Erdoğan added that Türkiye wished for children in other parts of the world the same future it sought for its own.
Addressing the children in the audience, Erdoğan said they would shape the future and make the world a better place despite current hardships. He urged them to uphold friendship, solidarity and peace, saying that while languages may differ, “the language of love and friendship is the same.”
