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Vladimir Putin was accused of interfering in the significant weekend election in Turkey, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan supported Putin on Friday.
On Thursday, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan’s secular challenger, said that unnamed Russian agents had been disseminating “deep fakes” and other false information in an effort to influence the outcome of the election on Sunday.
In a televised campaign address on Friday, Erdogan defended Putin as the Kremlin “strongly” disputed the accusation.
Throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Erdogan and Putin have remained cooperative.
Turkish energy imports have been discounted, and the country has resisted joining Western sanctions against the Kremlin.
Survey results indicate a close contest between Erdogan and his adversary in the secular opposition.
Kilicdaroglu’s remarks were made amid the fervour of a divisive campaign that saw third-party candidate Muharrem Ince withdraw on Thursday.
Ince made his decision public after being the target of an online ad campaign that featured fabricated photographs of him seeing ladies and driving about in posh vehicles.
Additionally, Erdogan has been using deceptive recordings to link Kilicdaroglu to members of a banned Kurdish militia that Turkey and its supporters consider to be “terrorists” by airing them during rallies.
