PRETORIA, South Africa

The acclaimed Turkish film Ayla: The Daughter of War was screened Friday night at the Korean Cultural Center in South Africa to celebrate the friendship between Türkiye and South Korea.

Foreign diplomats, South African government officials, and veterans of the Korean War were some of the guests who attended the screening of the film which is based on a true story.

It tells the story of a Turkish sergeant and a 5-year-old orphan girl that he found on the battlefield during the Korean War in 1950.

Turkish forces served under the UN command during the 1950-1953 Korean War, and 774 Turkish soldiers were killed in the line of duty.

“Today we remember not only the Turkish soldiers who fought to secure the blessing of freedom and democracy on the Korean peninsula but also the exemplary social responsibility shown by the Turkish soldiers,” Turkish Ambassador to South Africa Aysegul Kandas said in an address before the screening.

She said Turkish troops provided shelter to the Korean children who had lost their families in the tragic war and later established a school in Ankara to provide preliminary education for those children. The school lasted even after the war.

Good relations

Kandas said the Türkiye-South Korea relations have robust foundations with a shared responsibility.

The active battlefields on the Korean peninsula transformed Turkish people and South Koreans into brothers in arms, rather “blood brothers – a phrase we use in Turkish for our dearest friends,” she said.

She said bilateral relations continue to strengthen between the two countries as they cooperate internationally as well.

“Türkiye and Korea are members of the G-20 and recognized as key countries that seek to contribute to global peace and prosperity,” she added.

She further said their memberships at the informal groups of MIKTA, which includes, Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, and Australia testify to their multilateral ties

The South Korean Ambassador to South Africa Chull Joo Park said the film is a reflection of hope amid the horror of war.

Released in 2017 in Türkiye, the film won the Best Foreign Film and Best of Fest awards in 2018 at the 24th Sedona International Film Festival held in the United States.

The guests were entertained by a music band of Korean experts in South Africa. The Turkish Cultural Center Yunus Emre Institute exhibited drawings and paintings of the Korean War and the film Ayla.