Turkish couple feed 4000 refugees on wedding day

05 Aug 2015

Act of kindness goes viral as family and guests feed fleeing Syrian refugees from food trucks.

Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu and Esra Polat tied the knot in Kilis province on the Syrian border, which is currently home to thousands of refugees fleeing conflict in the neighbouring country.

Hatice Avci, a spokesperson for aid organisation Kimse Yok Mu, said that the charity is responsible for feeding 4,000 refugees who live in and around the town of Kilis, but last Thursday the newlyweds donated the savings their families had put together for a party to share their wedding celebrations with the refugees living nearby instead.

Local media reported that the groom’s father Ali Üzümcüoğlu came up with the idea to invite the extra wedding guests.

“I thought that sharing a big delicious dinner with our family and friends was unnecessary, knowing that there are so many people in need living next door. So I came up with this idea and shared it with my son. I’m very happy that he accepted it and they started their new happy journey with such a selfless action.” groom’s father Ali Üzümcüoğlu said

The wedding guests banded together to operate the food trucks and share the banquet with refugee families, The bride and groom helped distribute the meal themselves and took their wedding pictures with people at the camp, according to local media.

Groom Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu said that he’d never taken part in something like this before but it was the “best and happiest moment of my life”

“We thought this was best done with Kimse Yok Mu who could provide a truck. God willing, this will lead to others doing the same and giving food to our Syrian brothers and sisters. For us, it was an interesting wedding dinner.”