Erdoğan using Twitter to create fake popularity

Shaimaa Yahia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fights tooth and nail to rescue his popularity which has reached its lowest rating because of his misguided and corrupt policies.

Twitter crackdown

On June 11, Twitter revealed that it had suspended thousands of fake accounts in Turkey that worked to promote Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party.

Twitter added that it had abolished 32,242 accounts, including 7,340 accounts that were used for praising the Turkish president. This network of accounts, Twitter said, posted 37 million tweets, praising Erdoğan.

It noted that the network was operated by the junior members of the Justice and Development Party. Twitter added that accounts within the same network had hacked accounts critical of Erdoğan.

Targeting the public

The network worked to improve the image of the Turkish president after his popularity fell down remarkably and amid expectations that Erdoğan’s political career is coming close to its end.

Erdoğan’s party lost two of the most important cities, including the Turkish capital Istanbul, in the mayoral elections that took place in 2019.

The popularity of Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party is falling down because of deteriorating economic conditions in Turkey and Turkey’s growing international isolation because of Erdoğan’s wrong policies, especially in Syria and Libya.

Suppression of the opposition

Erdoğan does not allow a shred of opposition. He suppresses the opposition by all means. What are known as electronic brigades inside his party attack opponents and defame them.

Turkish police arrested thousands of journalists, academics and rights advocates, only because they oppose Erdogan. This comes amid warnings by international organizations that Turkey can be sliding into unprecedented suppression.