Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, has halted election campaigning after becoming ill during a live TV interview that was abruptly cut short.
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| Image Source - Google | Image by <br><a href= BBC News |
By Mehran Mazari
He took a 20-minute break and then came back, claiming to have "serious stomach flu" following two days of vigorous campaigning.
The election campaign for Mr. Erdogan, 69, is his most challenging to date.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the principal figure in the opposition, has been selected to represent a coalition of six political groups.
He joined other opposition figures in wishing the president a quick recovery.
According to health minister Fahrettin Koca, the president has "infectious gastroenteritis" but is otherwise healthy. He promised to start his daily programs again as soon as feasible.
The most recent polls indicate a tight contest for the presidency, with Mr. Kilicdaroglu having a good chance of winning.
On May 14, the first round will be held; two weeks later, there may be a presidential run-off.
On Wednesday, President Erdogan initially postponed three campaign rallies in central Anatolia, claiming doctors had ordered him to stay at home.
The launching of Turkey's first nuclear power station at Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast was among the Thursday activities he then postponed.
Instead, a frail-looking and pallid Mr. Erdogan joined Russian President Vladimir Putin in watching the inauguration electronically.
The construction of Akkuyu's four nuclear reactors, which are largely owned by the Russian company Rosatom, took several years, and its opening was scheduled to coincide with the election.
Before the event, the two presidents also spoke over the phone, and Moscow said that they had agreed to intensify their economic and commercial cooperation.
President Erdogan fell ill during the live broadcast on Tuesday night on the pro-government networks Ulke TV and Kanal 7, when he was surrounded by several journalists.
Before the screen went blank after one of the interviewers posed a question, the camera captured the journalist appearing more and more frightened.
At some point, Mr. Erdogan made a comeback to say that he had previously thought about scrapping the program. Of course, with our hectic schedules, we occasionally run into these circumstances.
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| Image Source - Google | Image by <br><a href= BBC News |
Within hours of the broadcast, rumors that Mr. Erdogan had suffered a heart attack started to circulate on certain social media accounts outside of Turkey.
Using social media to "categorically reject such baseless claims" regarding the president's health, Mr. Erdogan's communications director Fahrettin Altun tweeted screenshots of the accounts making the claims.
The Turkish people support their leader, and @RTErdogan and his AK Party are expected to prevail in the elections on May 14 despite all attempts at disinformation, according to the statement.
Since he has been in office for 21 years, Mr. Erdogan has already passed away during a live television interview.
He was taken ill for a few minutes before returning to finish the interview, which was taking place a few weeks after he had survived a failed coup in June 2016. The broadcaster paused for a commercial.
He underwent gastrointestinal surgery in 2011 and 2012, which stoked concerns about his health.
On May 14, voters will cast ballots in both the legislative and presidential elections. A second round will be held two weeks later if no contender receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round.
For the 3.3 million Turkish nationals living abroad, who have till May 9 to cast their ballots, voting has already started.
Around 1.5 million Turkish citizens are eligible to vote in Germany's 16 states' polling places. Large Turkish populations can also be found in Belgium, the Netherlands, and France.
Rolling back many of the reforms made by Mr. Erdogan, who led Turkey to a stronger elected presidency in 2018, Mr. Kilicdaroglu and his allies have pledged to restore Turkey to a parliamentary system.
