Erdoğan did not say 'I will not bow to Sinan Oğan’s wishes'

Context

On May 14, 2023, Türkiye held its parliamentary and presidential elections. Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, representing the People's Alliance, garnered 49.5 percent of the votes, while the Nation Alliance candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu received 45 percent of the votes. As a result, both candidates progressed to the second round of the elections, which is scheduled to take place on May 28.

Sinan Oğan, who secured 5.2 percent of the votes in the initial round of the election, has emerged as a prominent political figure in Turkey following the first round. This is mainly due to Oğan gaining the support of 2.8 million Turkish voters, raising questions about voting preferences in the second round. Oğan is in a kingmaker position, as his voters will now have to choose between supporting Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu. Despite policy differences between Oğan and Erdoğan, people have been waiting to see who Oğan would endorse.

On May 19, President Erdoğan granted an interview to CNN International, discussing the Turkish parliamentary and presidential elections that took place on May 14. During the interview, Erdoğan shared his perspective on the election results and outlined his aspirations for the upcoming second round.

Following the interview, reports circulated on social media regarding the preferences of the third presidential candidate for the second round. These posts claim that Erdoğan said “I will not bow to Sinan Oğan wishes” in the interview, but they are incorrect.

In Fact

During the interview with Becky Anderson of CNN International, President Erdoğan's voice can be heard, despite the English voiceover. Upon listening to the entire video, it is not possible to find the specific statement attributed to Erdoğan. Furthermore, the Official Website of the Presidency shared the content of the interview, which does not include the claimed statement. Anderson did not share this statement in her tweets about the interview.

One prominent Twitter account, a Turkish news aggregator, shared the claim, receiving high engagement. This account has previously been accused of spreading misinformation; in one incident they shared old videos of Afghans in Turkey to target refugees.

Oğan announced his support for Erdoğan on 22 May, stating that Kılıçdaroğlu “failed to offer a convincing alternative to the incumbent,” as reported by The Guardian.

The Verdict

President Erdoğan did not say “I will bow to Sinan Oğan's wishes” in a CNN interview; this claim stems from people’s comments on the CNN website. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.