Struggling with an intestinal virus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reappeared live on television on Thursday, two days after having to interrupt a live interview.
The Head of State, forced to cancel his trips on Wednesday and Thursday, 17 days before dangerous presidential and legislative elections, spoke by videoconference from the presidential palace in Ankara for the inauguration of the first nuclear power plant in Turkey.
“Our country has climbed into the league of countries with nuclear energy,” said Mr. Erdogan, his features drawn, dispelling however the most alarmist rumors about his state of health.
The inauguration of the Akkuyu power plant (South), built by the Russian giant Rosatom, was to be one of the highlights of the week for the Turkish president.
Mr. Erdogan, who was initially to go there, had even expected the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also spoke by videoconference before him.
On Wednesday evening, the director of communications for the Turkish presidency, Fahrettin Altun, wanted to silence the rumors surging on social networks after the announcement of the cancellation of the two trips by the head of state scheduled for Thursday.
“We categorically reject such unsubstantiated claims regarding President @RTErdogan’s health,” Altun tweeted, sharing screenshots of widely relayed tweets claiming the Turkish president had suffered a heart attack.
The episode started on Tuesday evening: the Head of State, less than twenty days before the double ballot on May 14, was to give a long interview to two Turkish television channels, after making three public appearances in three different cities more early in the day.
The broadcast, delayed without explanation for an hour and a half, was suddenly interrupted in the tenth minute, in the middle of a question from a journalist.
“Oh wow,” said an unidentified voice from behind the camera before the show was cut, as the interviewer rose from his chair.
The head of state, pale in complexion, reappeared on the air a quarter of an hour later before cutting the interview short, explaining that he “caught a stomach flu”.
In a tweet, the Turkish president, whose approach has sometimes slowed down in recent years, announced the next morning that he would “rest at home today (Wednesday) on the advice of doctors”, canceling three planned trips to central Anatolia.
“He is fine. The effects of his gastroenteritis have diminished. He wants to resume his program as soon as possible,” Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Thursday afternoon.
The episode, however, falls very badly for the head of state, while the 3.4 million Turks abroad registered on the electoral rolls began to vote on Thursday.
In power since 2003, first as Prime Minister and then as President, Mr. Erdogan faces an opposition advancing in a united front and given good standing by opinion polls.
His main opponent, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, at the head of an alliance bringing together six opposition parties, received the tacit support of the pro-Kurdish HDP party, considered the kingmaker of the presidential election.
In the home stretch before the elections, the head of state intended to line up two to three daily meetings, after having shared during the month of Ramadan the fast-breaking meal in a different locality each evening.
The health of the Turkish leader, whose medical report is not made public, had fueled speculation after a large intestine operation at the end of 2011, followed by another surgery the following year.
Mr. Erdogan, then Prime Minister, had publicly denied suffering from colon cancer, explaining that the operations were aimed at removing polyps.
27/04/2023 16:33:22 Istanbul (AFP) © 2023 AFP
