salma said:
February 22 - Queen Rania and Prince Hashem arriving in Turkey:
thanx for the pictures salma. I had read Hashem had accompanied QR on this trip but couldn't find any photos until now.
Queen Rania leaves fans in her wake:
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Mehmet Ali Birand
There are some people who are difficult to take a shine to. They seem too distant or seem to purposely put a distance between themselves and you. And when these people are royalty, prime ministers or presidents, the situation becomes even more dramatic.
There are exceptions to this, of course. And at the head of this list of exceptions is Jordan's Queen Rania. She is the wife of Jordanian King Abdullah.
For some reason there seems to be an aura of good luck around the Jordanian royal family. I will never forget the natural friendliness of the former King Hussein of Jordan. After talking with him for three hours in a taping for the "32. Gun" program, I felt, at the end, as though I was taking leave of a friend I had known for years. That is the feeling that King Hussein always gave the people with whom he dealt.
I spoke with his son, Abdullah, two years ago, and he gave off the same sense of warmth.
And now I have met Queen Rania, who came to Istanbul in support of the Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV).
In addition to being queen, Rania is also strikingly beautiful. One might think that being both beautiful and a queen would change a person. But that's not the case with Rania; she is, just like her husband and her father-in-law was, a very warm person. Rania is also the symbol of Jordan in the international media. She gains many things for her country with her stance. Anyway, after meeting her, I sighed to myself. If only my country had a symbol like that, I said to myself.
Turkish Daily News
Jordan's Queen Rania visits Istanbul
Friday, February 24, 2006
Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan visited a pre-school in Istanbul on Thursday to see a program being implemented there by the Mothers and Children Education Foundation (AÇEV).
Doğan Group and AÇEV invited the Jordanian queen to the city, a visit she began yesterday with an appearance on Suna Vidinli's “Reference Point” program on CNN-Türk.
The royal visitor and her 2-year-old son, Haşim, arrived the previous evening when her private jet landed at Istanbul's Atatürk International Airport around 7:15 pm. The official welcoming party included Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler's wife, Neval Güler, Deputy Governor Hasan Duran and Foreign Ministry representative Fazlı Keşmir.
Queen Rania Al-Abdullah has promoted the development of early education programs in Jordan and came to see the implementation of a similar Early Childhood Development (ECD) project.
The queen toured the pre-school program at the Çağlayan Primary School accompanied by school officials, AÇEV representatives and teachers.
“It is important that children develop in a secure and healthy environment,” said Queen Rania. “Early schooling is a key part of the first and most significant step towards building a strong and effective community.”
The queen earlier said that experiences during the crucial ages of birth to eight years begin the process of shaping who we will become as adults. “Our health, our values, our personal abilities, our social skills in making choices between what is right and what is wrong -- all have their roots in our earliest experiences,” she told a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) mission to Jordan. Queen Rania earlier toured the Doğan TV Center with DTV Chairwoman Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ, CNN-TÜRK Broadcasting Director Ferhat Boratav, Kanal D News Group Director Mehmet Ali Birand and retired Ambassador Yalım Eralp. Afterwards the queen went to Esma Sultan Yalı on the Bosporus for a luncheon hosted by Yalçındağ.
Turkish Daily News
