Erdoğan tells reporter to take her mask off because he 'can't hear' the question

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told a reporter to take her mask off during a March 19 press conference, saying that he couldn't hear her. Gathered outside a mosque for Friday prayer, the president answered questions but wasn't asked about the possible closure of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

Friday March 19 2021 04:06 pm

Duvar English

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told a reporter to take off her mask because he couldn't hear them during a press conference outside an Istanbul mosque on March 19.

"Take that off, will you? The mask, the mask, the mask, I can't hear," the president told the reporter.

"çıkar şunu ya. maske maske maske duymuyorum." pic.twitter.com/3lYSLc9uNN
— Neşe İdil (@neseidil) March 19, 2021

Referring to the brawl between United States President Joe Biden and Russian President, Erdoğan said that the former was wrong to call the latter a "murderer."

"That expression was unbecoming of a world leader. It's unacceptable. Putin responded in a smart and classy way," the president said.

Meanwhile, media critics noted that none of the press members asked the president about the case launched by the Court of Cassation's chief public prosecutor to close down the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP).

There have also been rumors that the president only learned about the closure suit after it was filed, Bizim TV Editor-in-chief Şaban Sevinç said on broadcaster Habertürk on March 19.

"The press may have been instructed to not ask him about the HDP. But that's unacceptable. Erdoğan should have made an evaluation about the most important topic of the Turkish agenda, which could maybe about an early election," Sevinç said.