Kılıçdaroğlu says under 'total media blackout,' labels Erdoğan a coward

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Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the presidential candidate of the Nation's Alliance, has accused President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of obstructing his election campaign.

The opposition candidate took to Twitter to voice his exasperation, calling Erdoğan a "coward" in a video he posted with the message "I'm completely under blackout."

"Constant slander, lies, conspiracies, irregularities at the ballot boxes, efforts to ban observers, manipulated videos... And now, [telecommunication companies] are even blocking our ability to send a short message to announce our program to journalists," he said.

Directly addressing President Erdoğan, Kılıçdaroğlu remarked, "Should I not participate in the election? Is this what you want? Elections cannot be held in Turkey.

"This man is a coward, a coward who is causing the country to decline. We are reaching a point where elections cannot be held. What do you want from this country? Coward."

In another video he shared a couple of hours earlier, Kılıçdaroğlu talked about  the blocking of a text message that explained their proposed solutions to the "retirement age constraint" issue, which affects those started working after September 1999. Kılıçdaroğlu claimed that the Information Technologies Authority (BTK) was responsible for this obstruction.

The SMS ban

The ban on Kılıçdaroğlu's message is attributed to a letter titled "Important Warning Regarding SMS, MMS, and Calls," sent today with an "urgent" note to all GSM operators, bearing the signature of Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, the head of the BTK, affiliated with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.

The letter referred to the decision of the Supreme Election Council (YSK) dated March 15, which stated that it is prohibited to engage in propaganda by sending visual, audio, or written messages to citizens' email addresses or their mobile or landline phones.

Kılıçdaroğlu's accusations come as Turkey is preparing for the upcoming runoff vote between Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu on Sunday.

Yesterday, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also drew attention to the government's obstruction of Kılıçdaroğlu's election campaign, emphasizing the unfair allocation of airtime and editorial control over broadcasts. It noted that Erdoğan has been receiving significantly more coverage than his challenger.

Tümüyle karartma altındayım. pic.twitter.com/1ztB6lv44f

— Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (@kilicdarogluk) May 26, 2023

(AEK/VK)