Heartwrenching photo of four-year-old child goes viral after stunning public

A heartbreaking photo of a four-year-old Syrian child appearing to surrender has gone viral in recent days.

According to the photojournalist who captured the heartwrenching moment at the beginning of the year, the four-year-old’s fearful response was in reaction to the photographer’s camera which he assumed was a weapon.

The child, whose gender is yet to be confirmed as a result of gender-neutral pronouns in the Turkish language, recently took refuge at a camp on the Turkish border following the death of his father in a bombing in Hama.

The four-year-old, who is staying at the camp with his mother and three siblings, raised his arms and stood still under the assumption he was being threatened by the unknown adult.

Having been brought to the attention of the Turkish public in January, a newspaper article at the time read: “His face tightens immediately. He bites his lower lip and slowly raises his hands. He stands still without a word. It isn’t easy to console the child who thinks that the camera looking at him is a gun.”

The photo, which has only recently gone viral in other countries, has struck a cord with the public with one Twitter user saying: “This’ll be one of those photos that we look back on in 30 years and view as a defining photograph of a generation.”