Turkey: President Cancels Public Rallies After Live TV ‘Health Scare’, Blasts “Baseless” Rumours
Throughout Wednesday social media rumours swirled concerning Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “health scare” the evening prior. He fell ill during a live TV broadcast, which his office later described as the result of a ‘serious stomach cold’. Erdogan’s office then cancelled two days of political rallies, just ahead of the major presidential and parliamentary elections set for May 14.
But by Wednesday afternoon mainly English language social media accounts were claiming he had been hospitalized by a heart attack. Some rumours went so far as to say he was “poisoned”.
Meanwhile, Turkish official sources and media were largely silent on the speculations over his health, even as unsourced reports began to surface that his family had been summoned to the hospital, suggesting the worst.
But the unfounded claims got a further boost when Chinese state English-language media amplified the rumours. The wild speculation persisted, also based on Russian media reports that President Putin had been rushed to his office at the Kremlin due to some kind of major development. Yet still there was no observable market reaction, or in the TRY.
But it appears that the Chinese state media tweet triggered Turkish government officials to respond, with a statement from the Turkish presidency’s office blasting the “baseless claims” regarding his health. Could the rumors have been started by his political opponents, in order to paint him as weak and in fragile health? Again, much of this originated from English-language social media. Or perhaps it was just another social media wild goose chase originating with a handful of fringe sources.
