Emine Erdogan, who was accompanying President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a visit to Tashkent for the Economic Cooperation Organisation summit, attended an international forum on World Children’s Day.
During her visit, Erdogan participated in the international forum “Children and Youth at Work/Climate Change in Central Asia.” Representatives from the UN and various countries discussed the promotion of environmental education and the importance of children and youth’s role in combating the climate crisis.
“I explained the environmental and climate efforts carried out in Türkiye for children and young people, who are the most important target audience and also the main actors of the Zero Waste Initiative that we started six years ago.”
Erdogan also mentioned the importance of children’s future, noting “the painful situation where Palestinian children are being taken away from their lives remorselessly.” She also mentioned the conflict in the Middle East, which has so far killed about 4,400 children in the Gaza Strip.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, at least 10,569 Palestinians have been killed, including 4,324 children and 2,823 women. Official figures put the death toll in Israel at nearly 1,600.
