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Turkish FM attacks The Economist for editorial criticising Erdogan

May 8, 2023 at 4:06 pm

The Economist front cover of May 2023 [@TheEconomist/Twitter]

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticised on Sunday the British magazine The Economist for vilifying President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an editorial.

“Let them write what they like, they will not be able to determine the course of Turkish politics with their pens. The Turkish people will not give these people the opportunity,” Cavusoglu said during an election rally in the state of Antalya commenting on the Economist’s Leader article titled, “If Turkey sacks its strongman, democrats everywhere should take heart.”

“They want President Erdogan to leave power because Erdogan does not allow the establishment of a terrorist state in northern Syria; he contributed to the victory achieved in the Azerbaijani Karabakh region; and he united the Turkish world under the umbrella of the Organisation of Turkish States.”

In his speech, Cavusoglu also praised the achievements made under Erdogan in the field of defence industries.

He added that the president safeguards Turkey’s rights and the rights of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, and that he seeks to end Turkey’s reliance on foreign sources in the field of energy through his tireless endeavours in the search for gas and oil.

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