Turkey’s Halk TV aired an interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Oct. 3-4. Halk TV gained notoriety during the Gezi Park protests in June as one of the few channels reporting live from the streets. It is hardly considered mainstream in Turkish media, and has a reputation for being rather critical of the Turkish government.
Assad has been interviewed by Turkish media since the start of the civil war. However, during this interview, Assad was unexpectedly blunt and critical of the Turkish government, particularly of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Assad did not mince his words. He referred to Erdogan as “bigoted,” accused him of having the blood of Syrians on his hands and having exploited the presence of Syrian refugees in Turkey, while seeing the Gezi Park protests as the Turkish public’s rejection of Erdogan’s lies. This interview has escalated the war of words between the countries' leaders to a personal level.