Turkey’s President slaps a child on the face for not kissing his hand

This is the moment the President of Turkey slaps a child across the face on stage for not kissing his hand after he held it out. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been attending the opening ceremony of the Aider Plateau Protection and Renewal Project in the northern Rize province on July 27 when the incident took place.

During the event, where the leader was seen handing keys to the new homeowners of houses rebuilt as part of an urbanisation project, two young boys appeared on stage to greet the president after he delivered a short speech. In viral footage, Erdogan was seen extending his hand to the two children so they could kiss it but one hesitated for just a moment while staring up at the president.

Viewers were then left in shock when Erdogan quickly flicked his wrist and slapped the small boy across the face, before resuming his position and waiting for his kiss. The child appeared to be giggling following the slap, but continued to look up at the president for a moment before finally planting a kiss on the top of his hand.

Erdogan – seemingly forgiving the boy’s behaviour – then handed both of the children some money as a gift and hugged them before they climbed off the stage. Although the child did not seem fazed by the ‘slap’, the gesture sparked discussion on social media with some users criticising the Turkish leader’s behaviour. One wrote: ‘I wonder how he treats people behind closed doors if he can do that in front of the camera’. Another said: ‘That’s disgusting from Erdogan’. ‘This world makes me sicker by the day,’ commented a third.

However, some users defended the president’s actions, explaining that kissing the hand of an elder is a sign of respect in Turkish culture. One user said: ‘Love it. Kissing the hand of your elders, parents, and grandparents is a sign of respect especially in Turkey. ‘If you don’t do it you get corrected. Especially at a young age’. But this is not the first time Erdogan has come under fire for such an incident. Previously, the leader ‘slapped’ a child who requested an autograph on a Turkish national team T-shirt.

In 2021, at the opening of the Salarkha Tunnel in Rize, Erdogan was spotted knocking a boy on the head after he shook the ribbon. And last year, the president publicly slapped his grandson, but later claimed he was ‘stroking’ him, according to reports. It comes after Erdogan grabbed headlines on Sunday for issuing an open threat to invade Israel in support of Palestine. ‘We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to Palestine,’ Erdogan sai, referring to the war against Hamas in Gaza.

‘Just as we entered [Nagorno-] Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we can’t do. We must only be strong.’ Yesterday, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz demanded that NATO expel Turkey over Erdogan’s threats to send troops into Israel. ‘In light of Turkish President Erdogan’s threats to invade Israel and his dangerous rhetoric, Foreign Minister Israel Katz instructed diplomats … to urgently engage with all NATO members, calling for the condemnation of Turkey and demanding its expulsion from the regional alliance,’ the Israeli foreign ministry said.

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, whose party is the largest in the Netherlands, called Erdogan an ‘Islamofascist’ and ‘totally nuts’ in a social media post on Sunday following the president’s comment, adding that Turkey ‘should be kicked out of NATO.’ Wilders has long proposed booting Turkey from NATO, despite the country joining the alliance in 1952 and having the second-largest army. Erdogan’s comments come after he previously called on the Islamic world to take action against Israel.

He said back in May: ‘I have some words to say to the Islamic world: what are you waiting for to take a common decision?’ ‘Israel is not just a threat to Gaza but to all of humanity,’ he said. ‘No state is safe as long as Israel does not follow international law and does not feel bound by international law,’ Erdogan added, repeating an accusation that Israel is committing ‘genocide’ in Gaza.

He also called Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu a ‘vampire’ and accused him of killing ‘innocent civilians in their tents’. Turkey has also suspended all trade with Israel over its ongoing offensive in Gaza. NATO does not have a specific mechanism to suspend or expel a member, though members may voluntarily withdraw.

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