Western media under fire for biased rhetoric on Erdogan

The British magazine, The Economist, is among the most popular Western media outlets that adopt an anti-Erdogan position.

The Economist’s latest edition featured a cover with the title “The Most Important Election of 2023” adorned with tags “Save Democracy” and “Erdogan Must Go”.

The main opposition party leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, appears to be the strongest rival, representing a six-party opposition bloc.

In the accompanying article, the weekly claimed Erdogan’s defeat would show “democrats everywhere that strongmen can be beaten.”

Turkish officials, including Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, criticised The Economist and other media outlets for their latest editions, which feature blatantly biased anti-Erdogan cover urging Turkish citizens to vote him out.

“There would’ve been a global food crisis if it wasn’t for President Erdogan’s efforts to ensure the grain initiative and that it is unacceptable for foreign media outlets to interfere in the domestic affairs of a country,” Cavusoglu said.

The American magazine, Foreign Policy, clearly showed its abandonment of its impartiality in covering the Turkish elections, and described Erdogan, on Tuesday, 9 May, 2023, as “a tyrannical man and the owner of absolute rule”.

French Le Point and L’Express magazines also featured anti-Erdogan covers, with the former referring to Erdogan as “the other Putin” while L’Express associated him with the risk of chaos, with sub-headings including relations with Europe, the migrants and the Middle East, as well as his discussions with Russian President, Vladimir Putin.