International media taking sides in Turkish elections: Communications director

By Sefa Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Some international media outlets are taking sides with their biased coverage of the upcoming elections in Türkiye, the Turkish communications director said on Thursday.

“So-called prestigious international media groups openly and publicly do not hesitate to take sides in the elections in Türkiye,” Fahrettin Altun said while addressing a panel discussion organized by Türkiye's Communications Directorate, International Fight against Disinformation on Social Media Platforms, in the capital Ankara.

Altun blamed the media groups for publishing “offensive and slanderous” headlines.

“We are confronted in the national and global arena with unimaginable slander and perception operations about our (Turkish) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Türkiye,” he said.

British weekly The Economist, in its May 6 issue's cover story on Turkish elections, used tags such as "Save democracy" and "Erdogan must go."

French Le Point and L'Express magazines also featured anti-Erdogan covers.

In Türkiye, the presidential and parliamentary elections will take place on May 14.

On the presidential ballot, voters will choose between Erdogan, who is seeking reelection, main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and Sinan Ogan. Muharrem Ince, another presidential contender, withdrew from the race on Thursday.

Meanwhile, 24 political parties and 151 independent candidates are vying for seats in the 600-member Turkish parliament.