Erdoğan’s counsellor slams Financial Times over Erdoğan-Biden picture

* Picture: The front page of the Financial Times

Click to read the article in Turkish

İsmail Cesur, one of the counsellors to Turkey's President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has criticized the UK-based Financial Times newspaper over the picture on its front page featuring Erdoğan and US President Joe Biden at the NATO Summit in Belgium's capital city Brussels yesterday (June 14) ahead of their first meeting since Biden's inauguration on January 20, 2021.

In the related picture shared by both AFP and Reuters international news agencies, Erdoğan is seen to be standing up to give Biden a fist bump, a manner of greeting amid the coronavirus pandemic.

He didn't wear a mask, the press stressed

The foreign press, in sharing this picture, mostly highlighted that while one of the issues on the NATO Summit's agenda was the struggle against the pandemic, Erdoğan was not wearing a mask.

Following the social media posts about the issue, Reuters has expressed its sadness for the disturbance caused by the picture, explaining that in the related picture, President Erdoğan was standing up from his chair to greet US President Joe Biden with his hand.

'We are behind you, world leader'

Amid these debates and statements, counsellor İsmail Cesur has tweeted, "Financial Times' use of this picture among dozens of other NATO pictures to create a perception though the whole day is, in itself, and indication of the extent and platforms where Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's struggle has been ongoing. We stand behind you to the end, world leader."

Tek başına Financial Times'ın onca NATO fotoğrafı içinden bütün gün üzerinden algı yapılmaya çalışılan bu fotoğrafı kullanması bile, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan'ın mücadelesinin ne boyutta ve hangi arenalarda olduğunu gösteriyor.

Sonuna kadar arkandayız DÜNYA LİDERİ. pic.twitter.com/eTzKoh78vw

— Ismail Cesur ???????? (@icesur) June 14, 2021

(PT/SD)