Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has appeared publicly for the first time since canceling several campaign dates due to illness. The 69-year-old attended an aviation fair at Istanbul’s old Ataturk Airport today. According to Ankara, this is considered “the largest in the world” and is used by the Turkish military industry to present its aircraft and drones.
Erdogan looked pale during the performance, but otherwise appeared healthy. Clad in a red windbreaker, the head of state smiled and threw flowers at the crowd of his supporters. Erdogan did not address his illness in his speech. Instead, he resorted to his usual campaign slogans, portraying his presidential rivals as “agents” of the West intent on harming Turkey.
With their “scandalous statements” the representatives of the opposition “showed their hatred and resentment”, said Erdogan. He was accompanied by two foreign allies, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Libyan Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah.
Supposedly stomach flu
According to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, Erdogan is said to have suffered from gastrointestinal flu. This condition is relatively easy to treat and usually goes away in a few days.
Erdogan had not appeared directly in public for several days. On Tuesday evening, the head of state had to cancel a live interview on television. In the days that followed, he made only two video appearances, for the inauguration of the country’s first nuclear power plant on Thursday and for the inauguration of a bridge yesterday.
Before his illness, Erdogan had made a large number of election campaign appearances in view of the falling poll numbers. Most polls for the May 14 presidential election put the president just behind his Social Democrat challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
