KHAN SHAYKHUN / IDLIB, Syria
A devastated Syrian father whose twin babies were killed in Tuesday’s chemical attack in Idlib has described Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as his only hope.
Abdulhamid al-Youssef’s nine-month-old twins -- Aya and Ahmed, a little girl and boy -- have become another heartbreaking image of Syrian children caught up in the bloody six-year conflict.
Tuesday’s chemical weapons attack hit the northwestern town of Khan Shaykhun, leaving at least 100 people dead and 500 others injured.
Abdulhamid suffered an unimaginable loss; as well as losing his twins, his wife and 13 other relatives were also among the dead.
Harrowing images of him holding his dead twins -- one in each arm before saying a last farewell -- once again showed the real face of the Syrian war.
After losing most of his family, Abdulhamid left for Turkey on Thursday at the personal invitation of Erdogan.
"Our only hope is our brother Recep Tayyip Erdogan," Abdulhamid told Anadolu Agency.
Showing pictures of his twins on his cell phone, Abdulhamid said he hoped world now "gets the message" about the Syrian conflict.
Tuesday's chemical attack by the Bashar al-Assad regime was not the first in the six-year war. Last year, a UN-appointed investigation panel found that chemical weapons had been used by Syrian regime forces in 2014 and 2015.
*Reporting by Halit Suleyman and Mohamad Misto; Writing by Ayse Humeyra Atilgan
