Days Before the Turkish Elections, a Western Media Campaign Is Targeting President Erdogan

As usual with every electoral event witnessed in Turkiye over the past two decades, Western media outlets have launched a fierce campaign against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party.

The attention is now focused on Turkiye on May 14, 2023, as it experiences crucial presidential and parliamentary elections marked by intense competition between the People’s Alliance led by Erdogan and the opposition Nation Alliance led by the leader of the Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Amidst this atmosphere, the Western media machine, whether in Europe or the United States, has intensified its attack against Erdogan, hoping that the strong Turkish leader would suffer a defeat that puts an end to his successive successes since the beginning of the new millennium.

This coordinated campaign emerges at a time when Turkey is navigating complex regional and international challenges. Despite Erdogan’s efforts to address issues with neighboring nations over the past months, it seems that the Western powers have chosen to capitalize on this situation in order to manipulate the upcoming elections.

 

Offensive Cartoon

One notable instance of the Western media’s counter-propaganda campaign against Erdogan is the cartoon created by American artist Daryl Cagle.

The campaign gained extensive coverage and sparked powerful reactions among a broad segment of the Turkish population. Reactions ranged from anger to support.

The cartoon was published on Daryl Cagle’s website on April 28, 2023.

It depicts a large, destroyed statue of the founder of the secular Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, with a small figurine of Erdogan with angry features standing inside its shattered feet.

On the base of the statue, a red-colored X mark is placed over the word “Ataturk,” and below it, the word “Dictaturk” is written.

In the background of the cartoon, multiple minarets and domes of mosques are depicted, indicating that the Turkish President has defeated secularism and promoted religious and conservative tendencies.

Historian Mohammed Elhami commented on the cartoon through his Facebook page, saying: “The Westerner—the very civilized and very honest—won’t say it to you so frankly. Instead, he says it while putting up a sign that says, ‘Erdogan is a dictator.’ That’s why you see it written below as ‘Dictaturk.’”

He added: “The Westerner laughs at himself and at the fool who believes him. He insinuates to you that Ataturk was a Democrat! As if he came to power through fair elections and remained in power according to the results of fair elections, as if his era was an era of political freedom, free opposition, and human rights.”

He further explained: “Interestingly, I saw this drawing published by a professor at Johns Hopkins University, which means he is not just a mercenary journalist, but an academic figure expected to be intelligent!”

As for the Turkish poet Ibrahim Halil Baran, he shared the cartoon on his Twitter account and addressed Ataturk’s admirers among the Turks, saying: “The new Mustafa Kemal is not Kemal Kilicdaroglu, but Tayyip Erdogan.”

 

Insult by ‘The Economist’

It is noteworthy that Western newspapers, in their attack on Erdogan, always use the pretext of dictatorship, despite the fact that he came to power through fair elections and remained in power through free elections.

During his tenure, the opposition enjoyed numerous newspapers, platforms, and institutions.

In early May 2023, The Economist published on its front cover a publication about the Turkish presidential elections, describing it as the most significant electoral event of 2023 and referring to President Erdogan as a “dictator.”

What’s striking is that the British magazine explicitly called for Erdogan’s departure from power, stating that the elections would be the decisive means to remove him.

This prompted the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to respond, saying: “They are making decisions on behalf of the Turkish people and trying to guide the Turkish nation.”

He further stated on May 4, 2023, during his visit to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Antalya: “Why should President Erdogan leave power? What harm does Erdogan cause to you? Or how does Erdogan harm Britain, for example?”

He continued: “If President Erdogan were not in power in Turkiye, the world would be facing a real food crisis. Without Turkiye, the security of Europe would be at risk. Why are you interfering in the internal affairs of this country?

“We do not engage with those who interfere in Turkiye’s internal affairs. They will receive the appropriate response from our people on May 14.”

On May 4, 2023, a Turkish activist’s Twitter account shared pictures of covers from several Western newspapers and magazines in English, German, French, and Greek, attacking Erdogan using various methods.

The tweet stated: “As a strong opponent of Erdogan, after seeing these headlines, my opinion has completely changed, and I have decided to support Mr. Erdogan in the elections.”

“All these years, I didn’t appreciate that. After all, the leader whom Europe doesn’t want means that he has done an extremely good job for his country.”

 

Champagne Celebrations

Prior to that, English journalist David Hearst wrote an article for the Middle East Eye on April 22, 2023, about the Western media’s bias against Erdogan in favor of Kilicdaroglu.

He stated that “Erdogan’s removal would doubtless be greeted with the sound of champagne corks popping all the way from Berlin to Washington. That much is clear.”

He wondered if his absence from the regional scene would benefit Turkiye or even the Middle East.

On April 30, the US-based Alhurra website wrote that the Turkish elections will be between the Justice and Development Party, the conservative Islamic party led by Erdogan, and the secular Republican People’s Party represented by Kilicdaroglu.

In these elections, 64 million Turkish voters will choose between an increasing authoritarian exercise of power coupled with religiosity or a promise of democratic transformation, according to the source.

On April 30 as well, the German website, Deutsche Welle, published a report criticizing President Erdogan when he spoke about his bout of stomach flu.

It stated that he is determined to stay an additional 5 years at the helm of this country with a population of 85 million, which he has deeply transformed.

The German website considered the upcoming elections as a decisive referendum on Erdogan.

On April 16, 2023, Turkish journalist Ihsan Aktas wrote an article on the Daily Sabah newspaper website discussing Western bias against Erdogan due to his independent policies that are not aligned with the West.

He said that the Turkish people now stand at a crossroads, either to support Erdogan, who advocates complete independence, national unity, and solidarity with his nation, or to surrender to Western-friendly policies and pursue their own interests, as was the case 40–50 years ago.

He concluded by saying there is no doubt that the Turkish nation will decide what is best for them and make the right decision.

 

Bias and Unfairness

In response to this Western campaign, British-based media researcher Tarek Mohamed stated that “the Western media’s alliance against Erdogan’s rule and the Justice and Development Party stems from various sources, the most dangerous of which is the far-right, as well as major governments like Britain, France, and Austria.”

He told Al-Estiklal: “They all agreed to overthrow Erdogan by any means necessary, and there is no doubt that the Turkish experience and its transition from weakness to strength and international effectiveness have clearly unsettled them.”

Mohamed affirmed that “Europe and the United States are applying double standards regarding elections and the general situation in Turkiye, in an attempt to eliminate its experience, as is happening in other Islamic countries such as Egypt and Pakistan. Turkiye remains in a unique position because it is a neighbor of Europe, within its strategic and national security sphere.”

The media researcher also stated: “There is no doubt that Turkiye’s strength and its intervention in issues such as the Eastern Mediterranean, Syria, Iraq, and Libya, as well as its production of drones that have tipped the balance in many wars like Libya, in contrast to the shrinking European role, have made Turkish expansion a cause for concern for those systems. They also provided support, even if only in the media, for the military coup on July 15, 2016.”

He continued: “Turkiye faces significant challenges, especially now that the Western media campaign is unprecedented, and it gives the impression to observers that the elections will be decided in favor of the opposition.

“Therefore, the Turks must remain vigilant because the reality is that their adversaries are spreading poison in their propaganda, and they will not miss an opportunity to push them into severe crises to return Turkiye to its previous state as a weak subordinate to them,” Mohamed concluded.