Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan strongly criticised on Monday some media in the West that he believes have recently tried to influence public opinion with their headlines about the Turkish elections.
In an interview with the TRT Haber television network, the 69-year-old Turkish president argued that the West is disturbed by the development of the Turkish defence industry.
“Do they like Turkey becoming more powerful in the defence industry sector? Of course, they don’t like it… They don’t like it because we no longer buy weapons and ammunition from them,” he stressed.
“The nation responded (to the West) on May 14. I hope that on May 28 they will do it again,” Erdoğan said.
In the first round of the presidential election, the Turkish leader secured 49.5% of the vote, while Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, a six-party opposition alliance candidate, received 45%.
On Monday afternoon, far-right candidate Sinan Oğan, who secured 5.2% in the first round, called on his supporters to vote for Erdoğan in the second round of the presidential election, which will be held next Sunday, May 28.
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