THE Erdoganseeking to rally nationalists, has repeatedly hinted that the opposition maintains ties to the PKK, without providing evidence.

This time the focus is on a edited video depicting Kemal Kilicdaroglu with his Kurdish fighters PKK.

The video was shown at a campaign rally for the Turkish president on May 7 and includes footage from a Kılıçdaroğlu campaign video and images from a PKK video posted online 10 months ago showing Kurdish fighters cheering on their commander, Murat Karagilan.

Referring to that video on Monday, Erdogan again accused Kilicdaroglu of working with the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey and the West.

The video:

“Kilicdaroglu is shooting videos of terrorists in Qandil,” he said, referring to the PKK’s base in Iraq’s Qandil mountains. “Edited or not, they took videos of them in Qandil, and PKK members are showing their support for Kilicdaroglu through videos,” he said.

Today, the united opposition candidate called “forgerErdogan.

Responding via Twitter, Kilicdaroglu wrote: “I’m tired of being slandered, but he’s not tired of being slandered” and
called Erdoğan a “copper maker (video)”.

Kilicdaroglu is backed by a six-party coalition and the pro-Kurdish HDP, which is often accused by Erdogan of having ties to the PKK, which the party itself denies.

Dozens of users took to social media to express their outrage, with the hashtag “editing” ranking fourth on Twitter this afternoon.

In his own response, always via Twitter, Fahrettin Altun, the communications director of the Turkish presidency, accused Kilicdaroglu of insulting the president. The people “will teach a lesson” to those who insult Erdogan, he said.

“Unprecedented level of organized disinformation”

Erdogan’s political opponents see the charges he is unleashing as a symptom of a media landscape that has tilted heavily in his favor after a decade of transformation, jailing journalists and shutting down critical outlets. This fact, they say, gives voters a different reflection of reality ahead of the election.

Reporters Without Borders ranks Turkey 165th out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom.

Emre Kizilkaya, the head of Turkey’s national committee at the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI), said Turkey was subjected to “an unprecedented level of organized disinformation” throughout the election campaign.

“Truth and facts have come under concerted attack from multiple sources, with the government playing a central role in this troubling phenomenon, as evidenced by Erdogan’s tactic of smearing the opposition through various channels,” he said.