I am ready to die for Erdoğan, says Turkish PM's new chief adviser

ISTANBUL - Radikal

Yiğit Bulut.

The prime minister’s recently appointed chief adviser Yiğit Bulut has said he would die for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan if it was necessary, speaking during a TV program on private broadcaster A Haber.

Bulut’s remarks came after the program’s host reminded him of his old writings in which he was a fierce critic of the Erdoğan and Justice and Development Party (AKP).

“We were fooled in the past. A person cannot always stand in the same place when he thinks, sees and realizes,” Bulut said. “Today, I would die for Erdoğan if necessary. There are millions like me.”

He particularly highlighted Erdoğan’s stance against the IMF as a reason for his admiration.

“[Erdoğan] became an irreplaceable leader for me the day he dismissed the IMF. I am ready to die if a leader ended financial captivity after 170 years,” Bulut said.

Before being appointed as chief adviser to Erdoğan, Bulut was serving as news anchor and editor-in-chief of private news broadcaster 24 TV.

Speaking on a news show on 24 TV last month, he claimed that certain powers were trying to kill the Turkish prime minister through telekinesis. “In many centers there is work going on to kill Erdoğan from afar, through methods like telekinesis,” Bulut said.