A few days after the deadly earthquake that has left at least 43,500 dead in Turkey, the Turkish media is turning the page and returning to information about the weapons programs.

As reported by SKAI correspondent Manolis Kostidis from Istanbuldespite the $85 billion damage resulting from the first post-earthquake record and perhaps because there is a delay from the US for the F-16s, they are putting the weight on their own fighter that will be ready in 2032.

As the Turkiye newspaper reported on the “national fighter” as the Turks call it, “it ran the engine and took off on a runway.”
At the same time, there is optimism in Turkey that in 2023 they will get the “yes” from the USA for the upgrade and purchase of F-16, for which until now they have only received negative answers.

At the same time, the Turks are again reporting and closely monitoring Greece’s armament programs, talking about Greece’s plan to acquire 20+20 F-35s in the coming years, which causes them concern.

The opposition shouts about the absence of the Turkish army after the earthquake

However, the opposition continues to deal with the earthquake and in fact there are complaints that in the first days, there were very few army forces in the cities that were hit and for that they blame Erdogan for taking too long to get the army out. “Even 20,000 people could have been saved” characteristically says the opposition.

As Manolis Kostidis mentions, perhaps Erdogan did not want to show that he needs the army and that everything can be done by the state.

Erdogan began his hospital tours

At the same time, Tayyip Erdogan belatedly began his hospital tours and is visiting earthquake survivors. In fact, he also visited Alena Olmez, who was rescued 248 hours after the earthquake.

The elections are scheduled for June 18

As far as the elections are concerned, it has not yet been decided when they will be held. Given that they will not take place on May 14th, the TV networks are reporting that they will be moved to June 18th.

Bans and fines on 3 TV networks for criticism

Finally, fines of 3% and 5% of their turnover were imposed by the Turkish ESR on 3 television networks and one was banned from broadcasting for three days for criticizing the government for the way it dealt with the earthquake.

The director of the FOX channel, who was punished, emphasized that “independent journalism did not go unpunished. After we pointed out the unworthy and those responsible, they punished us, with the excuse that we did not allow a free view of the events.”