Elections: Sprecher rejects speculation about Erdogan’s health

Choose
Spokesman rejects speculation about Erdogan’s health

A good two weeks before the elections in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan interrupted a live interview due to brief health problems and canceled appearances. The president wrote on Twitter that he would rest on Wednesday due to “minor illness” and on the advice of his doctors.

During the interview late Tuesday evening, the camera was aimed at the reporter when suddenly choking noises can be heard in the background, recordings show. The reporter whispers “commercial”, stands up, then the transmission is cut off. After a short pause, Erdogan (69) reappeared on the screen and said he had had a hard day of campaigning and had stomach problems. He apologized for the inconvenience.

In addition, communications director Fahrettin Altun shared images of tweets in the evening claiming that Erdogan had suffered a heart attack and wrote: “We categorically reject such unfounded claims regarding the health of the president.” Erdogan will attend the opening of Turkey’s Akkuyu nuclear power plant via video conference on Thursday.

According to the state news agency Anadolu, Vice President Fuat Oktay said Erdogan was doing well. “We’re in constant contact. He’s caught a little cold.” The incident sparked concern among his supporters. Opposition leader and Erdogan challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu wished him a speedy recovery on Twitter.

The parliamentary and presidential elections in Turkey will take place on May 14th. Around 1.5 million Turkish voters in Germany are called upon to cast their votes as of this Thursday. According to polls, a head-to-head race between Erdogan and his challenger Kilicdaroglu, who is running for a broad opposition alliance, is emerging in the presidential election.

dpa