Turkey on Wednesday sent 1,000 boxes of educational toys to Palestinian children who suffered from recent Israeli attacks.
"This is a box consisting of National Education Ministry's products. The materials inside are specially selected by scientists and created considering the developmental levels of children," Ziya Selçuk, Turkey's national education minister, told a ceremony in the Turkish capital Ankara before the boxes were dispatched.
My Play Box is an educational set consisting of 31 materials and 52 products that focuses on early childhood education. The aid campaign was carried out in cooperation between Turkey's National Education Ministry and Red Crescent.
Selçuk said that everyone should care more about what can be done for the Palestinian people and children, and expressed "deep sorrow" over the recent Israeli aggression.
"My Play Box is a very practical box that we had opportunity to try in the field," he said, adding that it would greatly contribute to children's education.
The box includes paint set, magnifying glass, checkers, interlocking unit cubes, geometry board, castle building blocks, stationery set, xylophone, play mat, matching cards, play dough, and other toys.
"The Turkish and Palestinian flags, as well as messages of our President (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) and the ministry in Turkish and Arabic languages were also put in the boxes that were prepared in 1,000 pieces," Selçuk said.
Sharing Erdoğan's message attached to the boxes, Selçuk quoted: "As the Turkish nation, we are not far but right by your side. Please don't give up from playing, dreaming, and fighting for your dreams."
At least 260 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in 11 days of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on May 11. Sixty-six children and 39 women were among those killed in the onslaught.
The fighting, the fiercest in years, erupted against the backdrop of an Israeli court ruling to evict eight Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem in favor of settlement groups. The violence came to a halt under an Egyptian-brokered truce that came into effect on May 21.
