Turkey’s first lady criticized for ‘wearing designer handbags’ while crying over Palestinian plight

“There is no need to look for the fire of hell in a world where children die in war,” Emine Erdoğan said.

By World Israel News Staff

Emine Erdoğan, the wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reportedly burst into tears at a women’s conference while speaking about the situation of Palestinian children.

“Girls have to stand with their fists up against Israeli soldiers carrying weapons,” Erdogan said, according to Israel’s Channel 12. “It breaks out hearts.”

The first lady was speaking at a conference called “Maryams of Al-Quds are the Inextinguishable Lamps” held by a platform called “We are all Maryam” to support Palestinian women.

During her address, she highlighted the supposed suffering of Palestinian youth in Gaza and the West Bank and said that the world is indifferent.

“There is no need to look for the fire of hell in a world where children die in war,” Erdogan said. “Instead of seeing the balloons above their heads, the kids see missiles above their heads.”

She also said that “we should not let Palestinian women vanish into the darkness in the unknown corridors of the Israeli prisons,” according to the official site of the Turkish president. And that, “only after the international community stands by the Palestinians, whose property rights have been usurped, can we talk about the universality of all these values. Only after Palestinian children and women are included in the inclusivity of human rights can we believe that human conscience has revived.”

The first lady’s remarks, unlike her husband’s, tend to be of little consequence, Channel 12 said. She received backlash from some people, who responded on social media that she should take care of the children of Turkey before the children living in the Plaestinian territories.

Users on social media later criticized her, saying she should not criticize the situation while she walks around wearing designer handbags.