Srinagar:
The poor man who asked ‘can a drone take me to Mecca?’ has reached the holy city for the annual Hajj pilgrimate.
Al-Hassan Abdullah, a poor Ghanaian villager’s story went viral on Turkish social media.
Abdullah had a TV crew if “a drone can take him to Mecca”?
Abdullah had naively asked a Turkish film crew flying a drone with a camera in his village in Ghana if they had “a bigger one of this that would take him to [Saudi Arabia]” where millions of Muslims go every year for the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage. As his story went viral on social media, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu intervened and helped arrange a hajj journey for Abdullah. He arrived in Istanbul from Accra on Friday and was welcomed by a Turkish charity whose work focuses on Ghana.
Abdullah’s story made headlines after a TRT World employee tweeted his image. People, from businesspeople to companies, began searching for him and way to help him. Finally, a Turkish police officer from Turkish embassy in Ghana contacted him.
Abdullah was quoted by Anadolu Agency (AA) that he was pleased to be in Istanbul and it was God who blessed him with this favor from Turkey. “I am grateful to God and I pray to everyone who helped this dream come true. Turkish state’s assistance is valuable for me and I believe this will help improve friendship, brotherhood between Muslims,” he said.
