Tavşanlı District Mayor Mustafa Güler this week welcomed a delegation of 20 orphans, 10 girls and 10 boys, and five aides at the İstanbul Atatürk International Airport. The children had flown in from Gaza City -- which last year was declared Tavşanlı’s sister city. In a statement to the press, Mayor Güler explained that his municipality’s intention in bringing the children to the district was to try and help them overcome some of their pain, albeit very briefly, by exposing them to an environment full of peace and love. This is the second time that such a trip has been organized by the Tavşanlı Municipality. “We were so happy to see the sparkle in the eyes of the children who were embraced by Tavşanlı families last year, and so we decided to host a group of children in the same way each year,” he explained.
“There are many from Turkey and many places in the world who would like to go to Gaza and see the conditions there for themselves. There are people like this from different groups and who ascribe to different religions. We have a different philosophy -- instead of going to the region, we wanted to bring those living through this cruelty away from that, even if for a moment, to introduce them to a different world. We are happy and proud to be fulfilling this duty which has fallen to us,” he said.
Muhammad Abudraz of the Islamic Aid Association, who accompanied the children from Gaza City to Tavşanlı, said the delegation had found Turkey to be a very hospitable country, making them happy. Most of the orphans lost their homes in addition to their mothers or fathers in the conflict in Gaza. The children are to travel to Kütahya, İstanbul and Ankara and will spend the Eid al-Fitr holiday in Turkey.
