Erdoğan ‘off-air’ for longer than 72 hours


2015-06-10 16:51:38

NEWS CENTER (DİHA) - President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stayed off-air from Turkish broadcasters for longer than 72 hours - an unprecedented length of time considering his relentless TV speeches in the months before the general election. 

Erdoğan had been appearing on Turkish TV stations as often as three times a day during the campaign season for the June 7 general elections. He even gave a brief, deliberately non-partisan speech at noon on the day he was voting in Istanbul on June 7.

After the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which he co-founded, lost its parliamentary majority in the election, Erdoğan released a statement calling on all parties to assess the results of the June 7 parliamentary election “healthily and realistically.” 

On June 8, he left the presidential mansion in Istanbul after following and evaluating the election results for 20 hours and flew to Ankara at 4:30 p.m. Making no public appearances on June 8, the Turkish president also postponed a meeting he was expected to hold with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu until June 9.

Erdoğan, whose first scheduled public appearance was set to be at a June 11 graduation ceremony in Ankara, chose not to speak to the cameras after his meeting with Davutoğlu on the evening of June 9.

(nt)