Has Russia invited itself into the home stretch of the Turkish presidential election? This was denounced on Thursday by the opposition coalition led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu. The charges come hours after another opposition candidate, Muharrem Ince, quit the race saying he was the victim of an online smear campaign with doctored images showing him having an affair or driving cars. luxury.
“Dear Russian friends, you are the source of false montages”
“Dear Russian friends”, posted Kemal Kiliçdaroglu on Twitter, “you are behind the montages, conspiracies, forgeries and recordings that were revealed yesterday in this country”. “If you want our friendship after May 15, don’t touch the Turkish state. We are always in favor of cooperation and friendship,” he wrote. Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rival notably accuses Russia of having circulated deepfakes, these very realistic but digitally manipulated images. They present a growing challenge to countering disinformation around the world.
The current Turkish president and candidate for his re-election, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, defended his Russian counterpart on Friday against these allegations of interference in the upcoming electoral deadline, while the first round takes place this Sunday. “Mr. Kemal attacks Russia and Vladimir Putin. If you attack Putin, I will not agree, declared Erdogan. Our relations with Russia are not less important than those with the United States”. Despite international pressure, Erdogan has always tried to maintain good relations with Moscow, even since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Russia “firmly” denies
“We strongly reject these statements,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. We declare it officially: “there can be no question of any Russian interference” in Turkey. “We have repeatedly said and we insist that Russia does not interfere in the internal affairs, nor in the electoral processes of other states”, assured the representative of Vladimir Putin. However, Russia is regularly accused by Western countries of electoral interference, including through disinformation campaigns.
The Kremlin spokesman took the opportunity to salute the “very responsible, sovereign and well-thought-out position of Turkey on a whole set of regional and international problems”, a position which “pleases well” in Moscow, according to him. The latest polls predict a tight ballot this Sunday, May 14. They give the leader of the secular opposition, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, a slight lead over Erdogan. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, a second round will take place on May 28.