Turkey’s Presidential Contender Warns Against Disinformation, Deepfakes

By Staff, Agencies

Expected to be Turkey’s tightest election in 20 years, the main opposition head released stark warnings of election interference. In the last ten days before the crucial vote, Republican People’s Party [CHP] Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu warned of Cambridge Analytica-style interference.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's secular rival, Kilicdaroglu, used Twitter to voice his concern over a misinformation campaign that will include use of deepfakes. His CHP party received an intelligence report that the ruling Justice and Development Party [AKP] will use any means necessary to win, according to the YetkinReport. 

“There are two days left until the final ten days [before the election]. Let me give my last warning. Fahrettin Altun, Serhat and their teammates Cagatay and Evren; The dark web world you are trying to deal with will lead you into the hands of foreign intelligence. Playing Cambridge Analytica is beyond your capacity, boys. LAST WARNING!” Kilicdaroglu tweeted.

Turkey’s Communications Minister, Fahrettin Altun responded sharply on Twitter to the accusations against the group consisting of his two deputies and Serhat Eroglu, Head of the Communication Ministry’s Department of Data Processing.

“Kilicdaroglu has once again tried to defame our Directorate of Communication,” Altun said, “who work day and night for the strategic communication of our country and have achieved great success in the fight against systematic disinformation against our country.”

“It is unacceptable for any politician who has embraced democracy to indulge in the politics of gossip and slander,” the communications minister stated, “it is the responsibility of not only the government but also the opposition to look after the best interests of our state and nation.”

Altun concluded, “we fight against disinformation, which we see as one of the biggest enemies of democracy, and inform national and international public opinion accurately, quickly and transparently.”

There's been a lot of action leading up to the elections. On April 27, Erdogan suffered from an intestinal flu and announced a two-day break from his presidential reelection campaign.

The same week, on April 25, Turkish police arrested 110 people over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK], as a potential ruse before the parliamentary and presidential elections.