Turkey's president tells 6-year-old girl she’d get honours if martyred
Istanbul: Turkey's president has exhorted Turks to support their soldiers in Syria. But a televised scene showing a traumatised 6-year-old cadet girl, who wept as he proclaimed she would be honored if killed in combat, is not coming off well.
Clips of the encounter between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the first-grader, Amine Tiras, was drawing a backlash online Monday, with some critics calling his treatment of such a young child inappropriate.
"Her Turkish flag is in her pocket. If she becomes a martyr, God willing, she will be wrapped with it," he said after calling her onstage. "She is ready for everything, aren't you?"
She had started crying before the president made his statement.
Erdogan has dispatched Turkish forces to the border area of Syria to battle Kurds he considers Turkey's enemies and has been rallying his country for the fight, including in daily public speeches.
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The girl, according to Turkish news agency reports, had been attending the provincial congress of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party in a military-style uniform Saturday.
She wore a maroon beret and a Turkish flag in her pocket, and had made a soldier's salute during Erdogan's televised speech, when he spotted her in the audience.
The girl, according to Turkish news agency reports, had been attending the provincial congress of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party in a military-style uniform Saturday.
She wore a maroon beret and a Turkish flag in her pocket, and had made a soldier's salute during Erdogan's televised speech, when he spotted her in the audience.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/turkey-s-president-tells-6-year-old-gir...