Photo Courtesy (Daily Sabah)
Turkish first lady Emine Erdoğan received Bollywood star and director Aamir Khan on Saturday at the presidential residence, the Huber Mansion in Istanbul, Turkey newspaper Daily Sabah reported. Amir, who informed Emine about social responsibility projects he has initiated, proposed the meeting including the Water Foundation, which he and his wife established to deliver water to drought-stricken areas in India.
Amir said the first lady is carrying out important social projects and following humanitarian aid activities, and she congratulated him for his courageous handling of social problems in his films. Emina is known as the most prominent patron and public face of the "Zero Waste Project," which was launched in 2017.
Amir recalled his wife's short time to stay in Turkey, leading her to closely socialize with Turks, and the two communities have a lot of similarities such as the common family structure in India and Turkey, as well as the similarity of common word roots in the languages of both countries. The rich historical texture of food, culture and handicrafts in the two countries were also among topics of conversation.
Amir shared memories of how he became involved in cinema under the influence of his Muslim mother. The Bollywood great has been in Turkey since last week to look for alternative locations to shoot his movie, Laal Singh Chaddha, an adaption of the 1994 classic film, "Forrest Gump." The production phase was halted because of the coronavirus outbreak in India.
He is expected to shoot the rest of the movie in multiple Turkish provinces including Niğde, Adana and Istanbul and invited the first lady to attend the film set. Earlier, the Indian actor visited the Adana province, meeting fans who thronged to meet the Bollywood star.
Meanwhile, the right-wing organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has slammed Amir for his meeting with Emine Erdogan. VHP said that Turkey and its current President is an anti-India and always side with Pakistan. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi also put out a tweet about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan being "anti-India" and a "self-appointed Caliph" and called the country an invisible threat for India.
#Erdogan is on a mission to become a new self appointed Caliph'. He has always been anti-India and Turkey's religious directorate under him is funding extremism in India.#Turkey is the biggest invisible threat for us. Erdogan or any of his acquanitances shouldn't be trusted.
— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) August 17, 2020