The second day of their state visit to Turkey first led Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa as well as the delegation accompanying them to Gaziantep, the sixth most populous city of the country and one of the financial centres of the Anatolia region. Upon their arrival to the city in south-eastern Turkey, the Grand Ducal Couple was welcomed by Gaziantep mayor Asım Güzelbey and the governor of province Gaziantep, Erdal Ata.
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| Photo: IHA |
After meeting with local authorities, Grand Duke Henri attended the opening of an economic seminar alongside Luxembourg's
Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, Etienne Schneider. The seminar focused on the question of logistics. The Grand Duke also paid a visit to the Zeugma Mosaic Museum, the world's second largest mosaic museum displaying mosaics from the Roman and the late antique times, as well as the local shops and bazars of Gaziantep.
Meanwhile, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, UNICEF Eminent Advocate for Children, and Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's Minister for Foreign Affairs, visited the Nizip 2 refugee camp near Gaziantep. The site currently houses around 5,500 refugees who escaped the conflict in Syria by fleeing to neighbouring Turkey. During their visit, the Luxembourgish visitors announced that the Grand Duchy would donate half a million euros to fund two causes for Syrian refugees in Turkey in addition to the 7.6 million euros the country has previously five to humanitarian projects in Syria and neighbouring countries. The money will be split between UNICEF to fund schools and the World Food Programme and its food assistance programme.
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| Photo: Guy Wolff / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu |
During their stay, the Luxembourgish delegation visited the camp's hospital where children are vaccinated against polio by the World Health Organization (WHO), the kindergarten, the school, the supermarket and a few other sites. They also watched a play by Syrian children and the Grand Duchess got the chance to talk to talk to the refugees.
In the late afternoon Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa reunited for the next stop of their state visit to Turkey, Istanbul. The day ended with a dinner hosted by Luxembourg's Honorary Consul and businesswoman Suzan Sabancı Dinçer and her husband in Turkey's biggest city that is also the economical, cultural and historical centre of the country as well as the world's most famous transcontinental city.
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| Photo: SIP |
Pictures of the Grand Duchess' visit to the refugee camp can be found at
Wort in German,
Wort in French,
Wort in English,
Wort in Portuguese and
AFP while the Grand Duke's activities seem to have gone rather unnoticed photo-wise thus far. Luckily though, there are videos of his adventures available at Haberler
here and
here; in addition, there is also
a video of the visit to the refugee camp. -- Update: More pictures are available at
RTL.
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