Muharrem Ince, head of the Homeland Party (MP) and one of the four candidates running for the Presidency in the May 14 elections, announced that he would withdraw from the candidacy at a news conference on Thursday.
Addressing reporters outside his party’s headquarters in the capital Ankara, 59-year-old Ince said he had not “witnessed what he witnessed in the past 45 days (since he announced his candidacy) in his past 45 years.” “I am (defamed) through fake documents, cars I don’t own, people I am not related to, videos I am not actually in, videos doctored through porn videos obtained from an Israeli porn website,” he said.
“This is the work of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), but unfortunately, opposition supporters shared it on social media. No politician in Türkiye ever witnessed such a defamation campaign,” he said.
Though Ince avoided to mention, videos were made viral by pro-CHP accounts as a pressure on him. A demonizing campaign was being conducted both by CHP and FETO since Ince declared his candicacy.
Meanwhile, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, opposition’s candidate, surprisingly blamed Russia for deepfake videos.
However, contradictorily, he had supported spread of videos a few days ago.
Source: Daily Sabah and Straturka
