Bana Alabed, at only seven-years-old, has been a voice for East Aleppo over the past months. Through her Twitter page Bana, along with the help of her mother, Fatemah, has used social media to bring awareness to the horrible reality faced by those living in war-torn Syria. They have talked about the destruction of their home, Bana’s sickness, and the fate of lives cut too short.
Many have feared for Bana’s safety, but on December 19, her followers rejoiced. Bana finally tweeted, what many had been waiting to hear, “I escaped from East #Aleppo.”
Bana left East Aleppo with her family and about 4,500 others this past Monday, and efforts to evacuate remaining people are currently in motion. Soon after her family evacuated, Bana began to share photos of herself with Turkish government officials. The two officials were the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Turkey. Bana has remained a source of news and a symbol of hope for many during her time in East Aleppo, and the two Turkish officials seemed glad to see her safe and healthy.
Despite having left East Aleppo, Bana and Fatemah have continued to tweet and bring awareness to not only East Aleppo but Syria as a whole. Fatemah wrote, “Let’s now join together for peace across Syria like you did for Aleppo.” Bana has also made comments that one day she hopes to go back to Aleppo, saying that it is her land and home.
Officials from Turkey have met with officials from both Russia and Iran this past week to try to find a way to end Syria’s ongoing civil war. The three countries are currently working together in an attempt to stop the conflicts in Syria after agreeing to the Moscow Declaration. Turkey, Russia, and Iran working together could possibly bring an end to the war in Syria and give Syria’s people the peace they have been without for so long.
