A opponent of Erdogan accused Russia of running a "deep fake" election ahead of Sunday's vote

 


With new suspicions of foreign intervention in the elections, Turkey is at a critical crossroads as voters go to the polls on Sunday to choose their new parliament and president.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the opposition candidate in Turkiye, said in a shocking tweet on Thursday night that Russians were responsible for the "deep fake" and derogatory content that has been going around on social media for the last few days.

"Dear Russian friends, you are responsible for the recordings, conspiracy theories, deep bogus content, and montages that were made public in our nation yesterday. Get your hands off the Turkish state if you want our friendship to last through May 15. We are committed to friendship and collaboration, he added in Turkish and also tweeted in Russian.

Kilicdaroglu's allegations were refuted by Moscow, which said in a statement: "If anyone gave him such information, they are liars."

The head of the German Marshall Fund's office in Ankara, Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, told Arab News that Russia has a history of employing disinformation to influence and effect politics in other nations. It is commonly known that Russia interfered in elections in the US and Germany.

"Russia's involvement in Turkish internal affairs is likewise not a secret. Therefore, it would not be surprising if Russia too engaged in deceptive influence operations in Turkiye," he asserted.

Russia has been charged with meddling in the 2016 US presidential election as well as the 2017 French and German presidential campaigns and elections.




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