Bulletproof Dreams: Türkiye displays paintings by Gazan children
The exhibition aims to raise international awareness of the trauma, pain and difficult conditions that Israel's relentless attacks inflict on Palestinian children.
This exhibition is a reflection of the pain and suffering of the children of Gaza. Their pain is displayed through their pens, and on the paintings, expressed Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan as she toured the exhibit with Communications Director Fahrettin Altun.
Drawing attention to the humanitarian tragedy in Palestine's Gaza through the eyes of children, Türkiye's Directorate of Communications has opened an art exhibit consisting of paintings and drawings by the children of Gaza.
"Bulletproof Dreams: Gaza Child Artists Exhibition" was opened in Istanbul Taksim Square on Friday with the participation of Türkiye's First Lady Emine Erdogan and Turkish Communications Director Fahrettin Altun.
"We must be the voice of the Palestinian children whose most essential right, the right to life, has been taken away (by Israel)," the first lady said, stressing that Türkiye continues intensive efforts to put an end to Israel's atrocities against Palestinians.
Erdogan stressed that since October 7, Israel has brought upon unprecendented pain upon the people of Gaza and that civilians, especially women and children, have been most affected by Tel Aviv's atrocities.
Altun voiced the same sentiment as he vowed that Türkiye would never take a step back from voicing the truth, and would never give up defending the just cause of the innocent children who were killed.
"Israel's cruelty can no longer be legitimised in any way. ... These lines show beyond any doubt that Israel is fearlessly targeting children and the future of Palestine, committing grave war crimes and aiming for genocide," the communications director stressed.
"We have to be the voice of Palestinian children, who are not sure whether they will see tomorrow, let alone the years to come, and make their suffering more visible," says Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan.
Depicting war and destruction
The exhibition displays artworks from a collection initiated by journalist Abdullah Aytekin, who gathered 266 pieces created by children from Gaza, some of whom were killed by Israeli attacks.
The collection was based on a drawing by Mona, a 6-year-old girl from Gaza who witnessed her mother being killed by an Israeli rocket during the 2008-09 Gaza War and the subsequent massacre of 26 members of her family.
Covering a total area of 1350 square metres, "Bulletproof Dreams: Gaza Child Artists Exhibition" aims to raise the international community's awareness of the trauma, pain and difficult conditions that Israel's relentless attacks inflict on children.
In one section, the belongings of children who were martyred in the aftermath of Israel's recent attacks are displayed amidst piles of rubble, depicting the war and destruction Tel Aviv brought upon innocent Palestinian lives.
There is also a special section for journalists and doctors who lost their lives in the Israeli attacks since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on October 7. Israeli attacks since then have killed at least 21,110 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 55,243 others, according to local health authorities.
Israel has left Gaza in ruins, with half of the coastal territory's housing damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely populated enclave amid acute shortages of food and clean water.
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