Istanbul (Reuters): A seven-year-old Syrian girl who drew global attention with her Twitter updates from besieged Aleppo met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at his palace in Ankara.
Photographs released on Erdogan's official Twitter account showed the president hugging Bana Alabed as she sat on his lap.
Bana and her mother Fatemah were evacuated safely along with 25,000 other people from the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo this week. Turkey has supported rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Good afternoon from #Aleppo I'm reading to forget the war. pic.twitter.com/Uwsdn0lNGm
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) September 26, 2016
Bana Alabed has uploaded pictures and videos of life during the nearly six-year-old Syrian war, gaining around 352,000 followers on the micro-blogging site since September.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said when Bana and her mother were evacuated from Aleppo that she would be brought to Turkey with her family.
I was pleased to host @AlabedBana and her family at the Presidential Complex today. Turkey will always stand with the people of Syria. pic.twitter.com/VuPtmFl7Lr
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RT_Erdogan) December 21, 2016
The eventual departure of thousands left in Aleppo's insurgent zone will hand full control of the city to Assad, the biggest prize of the nearly six-year-old civil war.
