Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s health has been a major issue in Turkish politics. Now the focus of public conversations is shifting towards his death.
In the late hours of Nov 2, and into the early hours of Nov. 3, rumors of his death took over social media platforms. After canceling his visit to Glasgow, Erdogan’s daily public schedule was cleaned of all meetings. Although this was temporary, the screenshots of the website spread like wildfire on social media. Nov 3, 2002, is the day that AKP came to power, so each year the anniversary is commemorated with lavish receptions.
On WhatsApp, groups with current and former AKP members also shared their concerns. There were tens of messages asking, “Is Erdogan really dead?” and/or “Is Erdogan in intensive care?” These questions were further fueled by two videos. One was from Oct. 29 Republic Day celebrations, where Erdogan was confused about where to go and walking with difficulty. Many on social media claimed his shoes resembled “balance” shoes.
The second was a pro-AKP journalist’s short mysterious video clip, telling his followers that they would be receiving sad news soon. The video did not mention Erdogan’s name and was recorded four months ago, but on Nov. 2, everyone with some sort of political connections received it from their WhatsApp message groups.
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