Turkish President Erdogan canceled the election meetings again due to health reasons | World news
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has canceled another day of scheduled campaign appearances after he fell ill during a live television interview on Tuesday.
Erdogan will avoid visiting the Mediterranean city of Mersin on Thursday, where he is scheduled to attend a ceremony to mark the first fuel collection at a new power plant, according to a senior Turkish official with direct knowledge of the matter.
He will instead attend the ceremony via video conference with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which is building the plant in cooperation with Turkey.
The decision to cancel Wednesday’s trip was made on advice from doctors, the official said, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. The president declined to comment.
Erdogan’s TV interview on Tuesday night was interrupted for several minutes after the 69-year-old president fell ill with what he said was a stomach bug. He canceled three campaign speeches scheduled to take place in central Turkey on Wednesday.
The market appears relatively unperturbed by the event. The lira remained flat against the dollar. Turkey’s benchmark stock index fell 2.2% ahead of Thursday’s interest rate decision by the central bank, extending its slide from Tuesday.
Erdogan is facing his toughest election since taking power in 2003, with a coalition of six opposition parties joining forces to oust him as Turks grapple with a cost-cutting crisis. – the worst in two decades.
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The opposition coalition has chosen Kemal Kilicdaroglu, 74, as its joint presidential candidate in the May 14 election. Kilicdaroglu wished Erdogan a speedy recovery in a post on Twitter.
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The cameras did not show Erdogan in the moments before the TV broadcast was interrupted, focusing instead on an interviewer who asked a question. But the microphones picked up the concerned words of someone in the room saying, “No, oh no.” The comments were widely shared on social media.
The program has started 1.5 hours after the schedule without explanation. Erdogan said he would consider canceling the interview because of his “discontent.”
“Due to my busy schedule, such issues may arise from time to time,” Erdogan said when he returned to broadcasting on Kanal 7 after several minutes. He answered a few questions before the interview ended.
During his time in power, Erdogan brought political Islam into Turkey’s once secular mainstream. After initially building a reputation as an economic hero, he began to take on uncontrolled powers that critics say have undermined the country’s democratic foundations.
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Erdogan’s growing authoritarianism and foreign policy zigzags, including close military ties with Russia, have created rifts with the West. Yet at the same time, Turkey, a NATO member and European Union fan, continues to exert great influence because of its position as a bridge between Europe and Asia.
