Erdogan cancels election campaigning amid health scare
Brady Knox
Video Embed
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan canceled election campaigning after falling ill on live TV.
The timing for the health scare for Erdogan, 69, could hardly have come at a worse time for the Turkish strongman. He faces a tough reelection against Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of a six-party opposition group, the BBC reported. The first round of elections starts on May 14.
WHAT WILL ERDOGAN DO IF HE LOSES TURKEY’S ELECTIONS?
The crisis started on Tuesday evening when Erdogan was being interviewed by several different journalists on pro-Ankara channels Ulke TV and Kanal 7. In the middle of the broadcast, one of the journalists, Hasan Ozturk, began looking increasingly uncomfortable. Then the feed suddenly cut out.
https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1651281509762973732?s=20
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Thursday that the president was ill with “infectious gastroenteritis” but is fine otherwise and will return to the public eye soon.
Erdogan took to Twitter on Wednesday to thank his countrymen for their well wishes and reported that he would follow his doctors’ advice to rest at home. He blamed his stomach illness on the vigor of his campaigning.
“I would like to thank each and every member of my noble nation, each of my brothers and sisters, who conveyed their wishes and prayers for the minor inconvenience I had during the broadcast due to my busy work. Today I will rest at home with the advice of our doctors,” he tweeted, adding that Vice President Fuat Oktay would take his place in several future rallies.
“With God’s permission, we will continue our program from tomorrow. We will continue to work to bring our beloved nation to the goals of the Century of Turkey,” he added.
https://twitter.com/RTErdogan/status/1651142918676049921?s=20
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Erdogan appeared via video call on Thursday, looking pale and disheveled, to oversee the inauguration of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. He watched over the ceremony alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Russian company Rosatom constructed the plant.
Polls show Erdogan neck and neck with rival Kilicdaroglu, with some showing the latter with a slight lead. Discontent over the economic situation and recent earthquake response of the government has boosted Kilicdaroglu’s chances. Known as “Gandhi Kemal” due to his likeness, the liberal politician has run on a platform of rolling back the authoritarianism of Erdogan.