Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has canceled another important campaign date due to illness. The 69-year-old will not personally attend the inauguration of the country’s first nuclear power plant on Thursday, wrote the deputy chairman of the ruling AKP, Erkan Kandemir, on Twitter on Wednesday evening. Erdogan will “attend the ceremony online”.
The appointment is considered one of the most important campaign appearances by the incumbent this week. The Akkuyu nuclear power plant on Turkey’s southern coast was built by the Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin will send a video message at the inauguration. Erdogan, who says he suffers from an upset stomach, had previously canceled all appointments on Wednesday. He is resting “at home on the advice of our doctors,” said the 69-year-old.
The government has vigorously denied speculation that Erdogan has suffered a heart attack and is in the hospital. “We categorically reject such unsubstantiated claims regarding the President’s health,” tweeted Communications Director Fahrettin Altun on Wednesday evening. The “Center for Combating Disinformation” also contradicted them on Twitter: “The claims from social media that President Erdogan had suffered a heart attack and was taken to a clinic are not true,” it said. The President will take part in the opening of the nuclear power plant via video conference from his office.
According to the state news agency Anadolu, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay assured that Erdogan was doing well. “We are in constant contact.” However, while Erdogan cited stomach problems as a health issue, Oktay said: “He’s caught a bit of a cold.”
In the face of falling poll numbers, Erdogan has tirelessly campaigned in recent weeks. The election campaign is currently going head-to-head between him and opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu. On Tuesday, the Turkish President had to interrupt a live interview on television. The program started 90 minutes late. In the truncated TV interview, the camera is focused on a journalist while choking noises can be heard in the background. The moderator then breaks off the interview and announces a commercial break.
Erdogan returned about a quarter of an hour later and apologized. “Yesterday and today were hard work. That’s why I got a stomach flu,” he said. The politician looked pale and ended the interview a little later.
In the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the US branch of the Chinese state television CGTN America reported that Erdogan was in a critical condition. He suffered a heart attack and is in the hospital. His family was asked to come to the clinic. The Chinese broadcaster has since deleted the corresponding tweet about the alleged heart attack.
