'If she becomes a martyr, God willing': Turkish president criticised for comments about six-year-old girl
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been criticised for telling a young girl dressed in a military uniform that she would be honoured if she were "martyred" for Turkey.
Mr Erdogan spotted six-year-old Amine Tiras, who wept and saluted as part of the crowd while he delivered a speech at his ruling party's congress in the city of Kahramanmaras on Saturday, and had her brought on stage.
After trying to comfort the girl by kissing her on both cheeks, Mr Erdogan told the crowd: "She has the Turkish flag in her pocket. If she becomes a martyr, God willing, this flag will be draped on her."
"If she falls as a martyr they will also - as God wishes - cover her with the flag. She is ready for anything," said Turkish president @RT_Erdogan to a weeping 6-year-old girl during a speech. pic.twitter.com/xuxHFbhVd3
— DW News (@dwnews) February 27, 2018
Some people were appalled and took to Twitter to criticise the president.
One user said it was the state's duty to protect children, not to "kill" them. Another said: "You don't wish death for a child, you never say: 'God willing.'"
Mr Erdogan's actions come as nationalist sentiment runs high over a Turkish cross-border military offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters that are affiliated with Kurdish rebels fighting inside Turkey.
In recent weeks, children dressed in commando uniforms or reciting nationalist poems have been making appearances at many events that he attends.
Yasar Okutan, a former government minister, accused Mr Erdogan in a television interview of using the youngsters to boost votes in presidential and local elections in 2019, and questioned whether the president would say the same for his own granddaughter.
