The leader of the Turkish opposition and the main rival of the current president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, has stated that Russia is spreading conspiracy theories and fake news before the elections, writes Politico.
Kilicdaroglu stated on Twitter on the 11th of May in a post dedicated to the Russians: “You are behind the montages, conspiracies, deep fakes and tapes that were exposed in this country yesterday.” The presidential candidate did not provide further information but added that
Russia should keep a distance from Turkey’s state developments if it wants to maintain a friendship with Ankara
even after the 15 of May.
Kilicdaroglu’s announcement came hours after another opposition candidate, Muharrem İnce, announced his withdrawal from the election race. Before the announcement of İnce’s resignation, Ankara’s prosecutor’s office said it had opened an investigation into a leaked intimate video purportedly showing İnce.
Currently, polls show that support for Kilicdaroglu is higher than for Erdogan.
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