A Turkish gym has won the hearts of a nation by offering Syrian refugee, 12, a free lifetime membership after a photo of him staring through its window went viral.

Muhammet Halit was seen wearing sandals and carrying his shoe polishing gear gazing longingly at the equipment inside in the southeastern province of Adiyaman in a photograph that swept around Turkey.

The owner of the gym saw the picture and offered the boy, who works as a shoe polisher, an all-access pass to use the facility.

Muhammet Halit was seen gazing longingly at the equipment inside in the southeastern province of Adiyaman in a photograph that swept around Turkey. He is pictured here wearing sandals and carrying his shoe polishing gear

Muhammet fled the brutal civil war in Syria and was pictured with the gym owner Engin Doğan.

The owner told Hurriyet News: 'A boy, looking through the gym window, wearing slippers in the middle of winter and carrying his backpack.

'Our aim was to find him and offer him a lifetime membership here. And, we did it. He is one of our members now.'

The two posed up for a photograph together inside the fitness centre and Muhammet was pictured using the weights machines.

The youngster was thrilled when reporters came down to the gym to interview the proprietor and his newest member. Here he is pictured on the weights

The youngster was thrilled when reporters came down to the gym to interview the proprietor and his newest member.

'He found me and helped me,' the teenager told the Turkish news outlet.

'I had always dreamed of losing weight and now I believe I can do that by working out.'