Turkish ministers show support for Syrian infant

By Baris Gundogan

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish ministers have expressed support for an infant in Syria who has become a symbol of resistance.

They joined a hashtag trend launched on the social media site Twitter for the 'miracle baby' Karim, who lost his mother and his left eye in an attack last month on Syria’s Eastern Ghouta region by Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

"#BabyKarim I see you" and "#EasternGhouta siege must end" have been widely shared.

National Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli, Culture and Tourism Minister Numan Kurtulmus, Environment and Urbanization Minister Mehmet Ozhaseki and Forestry and Water Minister Veysel Eroglu shared their thoughts and prayers for two-month-old Karim via Twitter.

Canikli, in his tweet, said: "Baby Karim -- who lost his mother and one eye during the Assad regime's attack in Eastern Ghouta -- you are the light of our eyes. We call for a stop to the massacre in Syria. We see you Baby Karim."

Kurtulmus shared a photo of Karim on Twitter and said: "Even if the world keeps silent and does not want to hear the screams coming from Syria, we will be the voice, eyes and ears of baby Karims."

He also called for the siege to stop and added: "Do not let the humanity die in Eastern Ghouta."

Sharing the link of Anadolu Agency's story on baby Karim, Ozhaseki said on Twitter: "Baby Karim lost his mother in the Assad regime's attack, lost one eye, became deaf. We will continue to be the conscience of humanity and stand with those victims, even if the world plays blind and deaf against this torture."

Eroglu also shared his thoughts on Twitter, saying Turkey will continue to stand with victims who were tortured and experienced human rights violations.

The president of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, Ali Erbas, shared a verse of Quran with a photo of baby Karim.

"Think not that Allah doth not heed the deeds of those who do wrong. He but giveth them respite against a Day when the eyes will fixedly stare in horror," says the 42nd verse of Surah Ibrahim.

Twitter users in Eastern Ghouta are also expressing solidarity with Karim by posting photos of themselves with their hand clasping their left eye shut.

An Anadolu Agency video on the tragedy of Karim and his family has also been widely shared on Twitter to promote solidarity with Karim in Turkey.

Ongoing regime attacks on Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, are turning the lives of civilians in the area into an endless nightmare.

Home to some 400,000 civilians, Eastern Ghouta has been under siege by regime forces since December 2012.

The besieged area falls within a network of de-escalation zones set up in Syria by Turkey, Russia, and Iran in which acts of aggression are expressly forbidden.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN officials.