Turkish first lady meets with leaders' spouses in Uzbek capital

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish first lady Emine Erdogan, who is accompanying President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his visit to Uzbek capital Tashkent for an Economic Cooperation Organization summit, on Thursday met with the spouses of leaders in attendance.

During her visit, Erdogan attended an international forum held with the theme of “Children and Youth at Work/Climate Change in Central Asia” held as part of the World Children's Day, which falls on Nov. 20.

At the forum, officials from the UN and various countries discussed promoting environmental education and the importance of the role of children and youth 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,” said Erdogan.

“On the occasion of this meaningful program where the future of children is being discussed, I once again expressed the painful situation where Palestinian children are being taken away from their lives remorselessly,” she added, referring to the Mideast conflict since Oct. 7, in which so far more than 4,400 children in the Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli attacks.