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Reuters
Reuters
Politics

Erdogan rival says has evidence of Russia's online campaign ahead of Turkey vote

FILE PHOTO-Kemal Kilicdaroglu, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition alliance, greets his supporters during a rally ahead of the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections, in Tekirdag, Turkey April 27, 2023. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, main challenger of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, said on Friday his party has concrete evidence about Russia's responsibility for the release of "deep fake" online content ahead of Sunday's presidential elections.

Asked why he tweeted on Thursday that Russia was responsible, he told Reuters: "If we did not have concrete evidence, I wouldn't have tweeted." The party did not contact the Russian embassy in Turkey over the issue, he added.

    "We find it unacceptable for another country to interfere in Turkey's election process in favour of a political party. I wanted the whole world to be aware of this, that is why I made this call openly by a tweet," he said in an interview.

(Reporting by Orhan Coskun, Ece Toksabay and Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Samia Nakhoul)

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