Steven Cook published a piece in Foreign Policy about how Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is too sick to continue his job, discussing who might be the potential replacement. This piece, published earlier this month, generated both international and domestic reactions. Ankara's Communications Directorate launched a campaign on all social, print and visual media outlets about how young, fit and healthy Erdogan is after all.

The day after Cook’s piece, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun posted a video from his Twitter account showing Erdogan playing basketball with his colleagues. He announced a longer version of this game would be shared from Erdogan’s official account. For those who are not on social media, national television channels posted clips focusing on Erdogan’s love for sports and his career as a soccer player. Pro-government journalists penned detailed columns recounting the details of the ball game. All these efforts have magnified the questions Cook raised about Erdogan’s physical health.

Deputy Chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Numan Kurtulmus also challenged Cook’s piece directly by claiming some power groups were trying to pull Turkey backward. He said neither domestic nor foreign “tutelage centers” will decide the future of Turkey. Other unidentified AKP officials told the press Erdogan was working 24/7 and claims about his health are “perception engineering.” 

Ankara utilized two contradictory and equally ineffective techniques to counter the report. One is the method of lashing out against the United States, the CIA, Gulen movement members, dissidents and all others who have dared to question the president’s health. The other is to try to prove Erdogan is young, full of energy and fit to lead through a rather intense yet odd media campaign focusing on Erdogan’s athletic figure and love for sports.