Erdoğan aide targets CHP mayor with fake Öcalan image

Duvar English

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's chief adviser Oktay Saral has targeted the mayor of Adana’s Seyhan Mayor district, Oya Tekin, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), with a fake photo. 

On April 23, Saral posted an image on his social media account, depicting as if there was a photo of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan hung on a wall at a pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party building while Tekin was visiting.

“If the scoundrel Oya Tekin, the Seyhan Mayor of the CHP, who makes a show by hanging a Turkish Republic sign (on the municipality building), sits in the office where the photo of the terrorist head is hanging, there is no need to say anything else. This is a clear picture of the CHP-PKK collaboration, not the CHP-DEM partnership!,” Saral accused while commenting on a photoshopped image.

In response, Tekin shared the original image “so that your immorality can be seen.”

“CHP municipalism serves without discriminating against anyone, know this. Remember that we honest people are braver than you liars. From now on, I hope you will not mislead the public with poorly intended montage photos. If they promise that they will be used for good purposes, we would welcome them to our municipality's graphic design courses,” Tekin said.

Later, Saral deleted his post without apologizing. In another post, he did not take a step back, and said, "To visit any organization of a mentality that claims that they will erect statues of the 'Head of Terrorist', and even more, to ally with this mentality, is to sit in the shadow of the 'Statue of the Head of Terrorist' let alone sitting under the photo."

During the 2023 election campaign period, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan displayed a montage video during a rally, depicting as if PKK executives were singing his opponent Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s election song.

The Turkish government and its allies have been building a discourse alienating opposition parties by accusing them of “aligning with terrorist organizations,” which heightened especially during the 2023 elections. 

In 2022, the Turkish parliament passed the “disinformation law,” which carries a jail sentence of up to three years for anyone who spreads false or misleading information.

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