ISTANBUL

Turkish first lady Emine Erdogan on Friday said the Palestinians believe in a Gaza that will rise from the ashes, and "we believe it too."

Emine Erdogan's remarks came at the opening of the Kalanlar (The Remnants) Palestine Exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Kalyon Foundation and the Turkish Red Crescent in Istanbul.

Erdogan said Gaza, while being only 365 square kilometers (nearly 227 miles), "has become the center of the bloodiest, most brutal, most systematic genocide in history, suffering that no conscience can bear."

Despite the great destruction, there are 2 million people left behind, and these people are struggling to survive in "unimaginably difficult" conditions to keep Gaza afloat, she stated.

Recalling the words of the late Palestinian Refaat Alareer, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in December 2023, Erdogan said: "What falls to us is to tell our story of those who remain, to raise our voices for the implementation of international law, and for this cruelty to stop immediately."

Stressing that the Palestinians are not remaining silent against the aggression, she said: "The painter who lost the painting materials depicts hunger with the soot of pots that no longer boil.

The painter "disrupts the games of perception with the undeniable reality of art," Erdogan underscored.

She also mentioned a female agricultural engineer who transformed seawater into drinking water, adding that this person circumvented the embargo through knowledge.

"Defending Palestine means defending not only the Palestinians but all of humanity, the values ​​that uphold it, and above all, our right to remain human," Erdogan added.

Kalyon Foundation President Reyhan Kalyoncu told Anadolu that the exhibition was prepared to make visible the honor, faith, and ongoing struggle for existence of the Palestinian people.

The opening ceremony was also attended by Palestinian Ambassador to Ankara Nasri Abu Jaish, Turkish Red Crescent President Fatma Meric Yilmaz, and the Board of Directors of Kalyon Holding Chairman Cemal Kalyoncu.

The exhibition, featuring six different installations in six different rooms and an experiential area, will continue until March 30 at Kalyon Culture in Istanbul.

Palestinian soup, Palestinian bagels, olives, and dates were served at the exhibition to raise awareness about what is going on in Palestine.

Israel launched a brutal war on Gaza in October 2023, with US backing, killing more than 71,000 Palestinians and wounding more than 171,000 others, most of them women and children.

A ceasefire based on a proposal advanced by Trump took effect on Oct. 10, but Israel has violated the agreement consistently.