Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan felt unwell during an interview with a local TV channel, broadcast live. After that, all election events involving the 69-year-old Turkish leader were temporarily called off. The media reported that Erdogan suffered a heart attack. What is known about the state of health of the President of Turkey on the eve of the elections – in the material Russian media.
living disease
Erdogan fell ill on the evening of Tuesday, April 25, during a live television broadcast devoted to the elections. The program dedicated to the upcoming presidential elections started an hour and a half later than scheduled and was interrupted by advertisements after a question from Hasan Ozturk, editor-in-chief of Ülke TV.
After 20 minutes, Erdogan came back into the air, asked the audience for forgiveness and said he “had a bad stomach cold”. According to him, for this reason, he “had serious stomach aches”.
“I even thought about canceling the program, but we promised and came,” Erdogan said.
The President then continued the interview, but it only lasted a few minutes.
After the incident on television, Turkish media and high-ranking politicians reported that Erdogan was suffering from stomach flu. Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalyn also said the head of state was “in good health”.
A Haber complaints that Erdogan’s state of health is “not serious”.
“The state of health of our president is very good. <…> He had a mild cold,” said Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, transmits public television channel TRT Haber.
In February 2022, Erdogan get sick corona virus. He contracted omicron and suffered from a mild illness.
Reports of a heart attack
On Wednesday April 26, reports began to appear on social media that the Turkish president had aggravated heart problems. Reports claimed that Erdogan suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized in serious condition, while the head of state’s wife and family members were reportedly told to go to the hospital.
Also on Erdogan’s myocardial infarction informed AVAZTURK. According to the publication, the president’s condition is described as serious.
Cumhuriyet newspaper quoting Turkish ‘Change Party’ chairman Mustafa Sarigul writing that Erdogan had “heart problems” two weeks before the elections.
The Center for Combating Disinformation under the administration of the Turkish President did not confirm the version of a heart attack.
Cancellation of campaign events
On April 26, Erdogan announced that, on the recommendation of doctors, he would spend a day at home. He called the incident “a slight inconvenience due to a busy schedule”. The head of state added that Vice President Fuat Oktay would replace him during campaign demonstrations scheduled for Wednesday in several Turkish cities.
Erdogan also canceled an interview scheduled for April 27, which was to be broadcast by four TV channels (Euro D, ATV Europe, NTV Europe and TRT World), Ismail Saymaz, a journalist with Sözcü newspaper and SZC TV, said on Twitter. .
Furthermore, Erdogan refused to hold a rally in Mersin as part of his election campaign, Erkan Candemir, deputy leader of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, said on Twitter. He clarified that it is “planned to take place later”.
In the same publication, Kandemir said that Erdogan will participate in the ceremony of loading nuclear fuel into power unit No. 1 of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant Akkuyu (a joint project of Russia and Turkey, the power plant nuclear is under construction with the support of Rosatom) via video link. At the same time, it was previously planned that the head of state would attend this event in person. How reported The Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin will also participate in the ceremony – also via video link.
Reports have also circulated on social media that Erdogan has canceled all of his scheduled meetings until May 3. However, no official report confirming or denying this information has been published.
Erdogan goes to the next elections
Presidential and legislative elections in Türkiye are scheduled for May 14. According to Bloomberg, Erdogan is having the toughest election campaign ever during his reign. In particular, the agency complaints that the incumbent president’s allies are reconsidering their allegiance ahead of the Turkish elections, amid the real possibility that he could lose votes or a majority in parliament.
The very fact that Erdogan has health problems affects the already tense election campaign, Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs magazine and chairman of the presidium of Russia’s Foreign and Defense Policy Council, told Russian media. .
“There, according to the polls, the result is rather incomprehensible, moreover most of the polls show rather that at least in the first round he will not be able to win. As a result, any influencing factor, and the factor that the candidate is not in good health, of course, adds skepticism to those who hesitate,” he explained.
Erdogan’s main opponent in the upcoming elections is the opposition alliance candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, 74. According data In a poll conducted in early April by the opinion research company Optimar, 45.9% of those questioned are ready to vote for the outgoing head of state in the first round of the presidential election, and 43.9% are ready to vote for the leader of the opposition.
For whom are the Turks ready to vote and why – read in the material of Russian media.
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