Turkish presidency issues a statement refuting allegations regarding Erdogan’s health condition

Spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly denied the rumors about the health of the 69-year-old president, who has been in power for two decades and is seeking re-election next month.

The head of the communication department in the Turkish presidency, Fakhruddin Altun, posted on Twitter on Wednesday night, in which he said: “We categorically reject such baseless allegations regarding the president about his health.”

Altun’s post contained images of several tweets claiming that Erdogan had had a heart attack and was in hospital.

Altun said the president will attend the opening of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Türkiye via video link on Thursday, as scheduled.

Vice President Fuat Oktay said Erdogan was doing well, adding “We’re in constant contact… He had a mild cold”.

Speculation about Erdogan’s health increased earlier on Wednesday after he canceled campaign rallies due to a slight illness.

“I’ll go to rest at home, Wednesday as advised by our doctors,” Erdogan said, via Twitter, referring to the health problems he suffered from on Tuesday.

Erdogan said he would resume the campaign on Thursday.

Erdogan was scheduled to deliver election speeches in three separate central Anatolian provinces on Wednesday.

Late Tuesday, he was forced to briefly cut short a live television interview after suffering what he later described as an upset stomach.

Canal 7 cut off the broadcast after Erdogan failed to answer a question about his election promises.

Some muffled voices were heard from the microphone, but the cameras didn’t show Erdogan.

Parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for May 14 are seen as the toughest test of Erdogan’s 20-year rule, with a unified opposition bloc pressing to replace him amid a serious economic crisis and growing resentment over the country’s millions of refugees.