The first round of presidential elections in Türkiye has ended. As part of propaganda and agitation campaign, candidates and their supporters have spread many controversial posts on traditional and social media.
Faktyoxla Lab. provides fact-finding on those posts.
Claim 1. The photo circulated about the collusion of the police with those who stoned the participants of the rally during Ekrem Imamoglu's rally in Erzurum.
This photo, spread by the Turkish opposition, caused wide discussions.
Fact-checking: During the search in the internet, we discovered that these photos were tweeted by HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas on June 4, 2015, and by musician Ferhat Tunc on June 5. In the posts, Demirtas said "before the Erzurum rally today. No need to comment."
Musician Ferhat Tunc shared "Efkan Ala: Erzurum is a city of peace. Looking at what happened today and especially these photos, one feels peaceful!"
Conclusion: The information is false. Photos are dated June 4, 2015.
Claim 2. Another controversial and widely shared photo was related to the injury of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu after the incident of stoning in Erzurum. In the photo, Ekrem Imamoglu's left hand is bandaged and connected to the system with a catheter.
Fact-checking: Health worker, Professor Mustafa Sahin said about that image, "What happened at the rally of the CHP in Erzurum is regrettable and unacceptable. But I've been in the health care system for 42 years and I've never seen an IV like this. Venous blood flow is upward. Here, the catheter inserted into the vein is upside down and neither fluid nor blood can be given," he commented.
As a result of a small investigation, it was found that the shared picture is a screenshot taken from the congratulatory video of the "October 29" Republic Day shared by Ekrem Imamoglu from the hospital where he was treated due to "Covid-19" in 2020.
Conclusion: The information is false. The photo is from 2020.
Claim 3. One of the shares is a video called "Citizen is getting up the subway stairs singing Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s election song".
Fact-checking: The video shared by a Twitter account linked to the troll network "Choice Line" is actually old. This video is the one in which YouTuber Aras Karafil, who makes "prank videos", "trolls" the people around him by singing Levent Yüksel's song "Tuana" loudly.
The video was taken by Aras Karafil on October 7, 2015 to troll people and shared with the caption "I trolled people coming out of the subway."
Conclusion: This claim is a lie.
Claim 4. Video depicting Turks living in France coming to vote in Ottoman-era costumes.
Fact-checking: Actually, this video is an old dated video. In 2017, it was taken in the city of Strasbourg, France, when 12 people came to the referendum in this guise.
Conclusion: The video was recorded in France in 2017 and is not related to the recent elections.
Claim 5. Photos depicting the crowd of participants from the rally of the CHP and IYI Party.
Fact-checking: The pictures in the posts allegedly related to the CHP rally in Ankara on May 12, 2023 and the IYI Party rally in Konya on April 23, 2023 are actually pictures of numerous fans celebrating Argentina's World Cup win in the capital on December 18, 2022. These are the images of their revelry in Buenos Aires.
Conclusion: The photo does not belong to Türkiye. The photos were taken in Argentina.
Claim 6. Sharing in support of President Erdogan from the Taliban's Twitter account. "In a statement, his holiness Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the spiritual leader of the Muslim World, encouraged citizens of Türkiye to vote for Erdogan. He also invited the Turkish president to visit our nation," the tweet reads.
Fact-checking: The post on the Twitter account of Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, calling for support for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the election is fake.
The point is that the sharing of the text was made from a fake profile. In the social media accounts of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Hibatullah Akhundzada’s post about the upcoming elections in Türkiye or a message of support for President Erdogan cannot be found. It is clear that the account in question has no connection with the Taliban regime or the institutions of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. According to the research of "knowyourmeme.com", this account is known for sharing satirical posts. The account, which has been active since January 2023, went "viral" in March thanks to the cunning trolling of Western viewers.
Conclusion: The twitter account that posted this is fake. In the original tweets of Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, there is no article about the upcoming elections in Türkiye or a message of support for President Erdogan.
Claim 7. “Recep Tayyip Erdogan slapped a child standing in line before voting” on the opposition's Twitter page on the election day attracted attention.
Fact-checking: In fact, the president of Türkiye, who came to the polling station with his family, jokingly touched his grandson's face. Mehmet Akif Albayrak, the son of Berat and Esra Albayrak, is the child that Erdogan jokingly touched on the face.
(That moment can be seen at 35 seconds)
Conclusion: “Recep Tayyip Erdogan slapped a child standing in line before voting” is a lie. Mehmet Akif Albayrak is Erdogan’s grandson.
