31 January 2017•Update: 01 February 2017
ANKARA
A young Syrian girl whose heartfelt offer to donate her eyes to her blinded father touched the world met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday.
Dema Nasir, whose father Mamoon Khaled Nasir also lost his legs and several fingers in a barrel bomb attack, was greeted by Erdogan and his wife at the Presidential Palace in Ankara. Dema was joined by her father, 27, and sister Sidre.
“Take my eyes and give them to my father so he can see and love me, again,” Dema -- who has been dubbed Gozyasi, or Teardrop, in Turkey -- told reporters last year after her father was wounded by forces loyal to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Her remarks set off an outpouring of public sympathy and a charity arranged for Mamoon to have surgery on his eyes, which are expected to be fully restored.
In a recent interview, Dema said she wanted to meet Erdogan, who selected an Anadolu Agency photograph of Dema and her father for the agency’s Photo of the Year competition.
Reporting by Ilhan Toprak; Writing by Hatice Kesgin
