Is Erdogan Not Well? Social Media Rumors Continue To Circulate – OpEd
Fake news. This is what Erdogan’s advisor said about an article concerning the Turkish president that he would not be able to run for the country’s presidential elections because of his ailing health.
The article written Steven Cook on in the US Foreign Policy magazine states that Recep Tayyip Erdogan would not be able to run for the next elections because of a number of recent incidents, which the writer says indicates his health may be deteriorating.
However, Erdogan’s Director of Communications Fahrettin Al Tun insists this is fake news. Through a statement tweeted he says “fake news used to be a problem on the social media” and “it seems that the mainstream media, too, suffers from the same issue now.” He added “that even major organizations spread such lies is deeply concerning.”
In his article Cook says that, and relying on videos that showed Erdogan needed the support of his wife and his aid to negotiate a set of stairs while at the Mustafa Kamal Ataturk Mausoleum last July. He also pointed to the claim of a “slur in his words.”
In the light of talk about Erdogan’s wellbeing, which had been going on since 1 October when the article first appeared, Turkish main opposition leader, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kamal Kilicdaroglu has been asking about Erdogan’s mental wellbeing. He was quoted by a Turkish website as asking Erdogan: “You keep repeating the same things these days. Are you ok?” Kilicdaroglu said this remark referred to a parliamentary debate on social insurance.