Turkish president’s office refutes ‘smear campaign’ alleging links between Erdoğan family, ISIL

ANKARA

The Turkish president’s office has categorically denied news reports alleging involvement of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s children with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), citing foreign websites supporting Bashar al-Assad regime as sources of such claims.

“Every day, a new one is being added to ‘perception management’ operations aimed at harming our country’s image by creating an impression of a relation between Turkey and the terrorist organization, Daesh,” said a written statement released by the president’s office on July 23, using the Arabic name of ISIL.

“Groundless claims that try to show our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, his son Bilal Erdoğan and his daughter Sümeyye Erdoğan in relation with Daesh, which have been immorally released in the recent days, are part of a smear campaign conducted against Turkey and are all lies,” the statement said, without elaborating on the claims’ content.