Headline Roundup • May 15th, 2023
Turkish Presidential Election Heads to Runoff After Claims of Twitter Bias
Summary from the AllSides News Team
NATO ally Turkey’s historically tight presidential election will head to a runoff on May 28 after neither President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan nor his main opponent received over 50% of the vote on Sunday.
The Details: With 99% of votes counted on Monday, Erdoğan received 49.46% of the vote, and challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu received 44.79%. Erdoğan has governed Turkey for two decades — as prime minister since 2003 and as president since 2014. However, he faced criticism after earthquakes devastated parts of the country, killing over 44,000. Kılıçdaroğlu, on the other hand, was described by The New York Times (Lean Left bias) as “a calm everyman who says he plans to retire after a single five-year term”; Fox News (Right bias) described his party as “center-left, pro-secular.”
Claims of Media Bias: Twitter faced criticism over the weekend for restricting access to some content in Turkey before the election. Twitter owner Elon Musk appeared to confirm the restrictions were motivated by Turkey’s government, saying, “The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets.” Furthermore, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu accused the state-run Anadolu Agency of manipulating election numbers to favor Erdoğan.
How the Media Covered It: Some coverage from the left framed the “conservative” Erdoğan as a “strongman”; however, Newsweek (Center bias) also said he had become “increasingly authoritarian” over his two decades in power. Coverage from the right was less common but also appeared to use less descriptive language.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Adem Altan / AFP via Getty Images file
Turkey's strongman President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan faced the strongest challenge to his 20-year rule Monday, failing to secure enough votes to stop a runoff with his opponent in a pivotal election for the powerful NATO member.
The vote was being closely watched from Washington and Brussels to Moscow and Beijing. Though Turkey is a NATO ally and holds elections, the country of 84 million has slipped further toward authoritarianism under Erdoğan and kept close ties with Russia.
The president won 49.51% of the votes in Sunday's presidential election — just short of the 50%...
DHA via AP
The closely watched presidential election in Turkey will be decided by a runoff vote on May 28, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, each failed to capture an outright victory.
Preliminary results showed Erdogan won 49.5% of the vote, while Kilicdaroglu grabbed 44.9%, and the third candidate, Sinan Ogan, received 5.2%, according to Ahmet Yener, head of the Supreme Electoral Board.
Yener told the Associated Press that the 69-year-old Erdogan – who has served as either prime minister or president of Turkey continuously since 2003 –...
Emrah Gural/AP/picture alliance
Turkey is set for a second round of voting after neither President Recep Tayyip Erdogan nor his main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu were able to secure an outright majority in Sunday's presidential election, the country's electoral authority said.
Erdogan received 49.51% of the vote, while his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, came in second at 44.88%, according to the figures.
The third presidential candidate, Sinan Ogan, a nationalist politician, finished third at 5.17%.
.jpg)
