Erdoğan says photo showing him teaching Quran to grandson taken on night of failed coup

ISTANBUL

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on April 9 that a photograph showing him teaching the Quran to one of his grandchildren was taken on the night of the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

“This is the elder son of [Energy Minister Berat Albayrak]. It was taken in Marmaris on the night of the failed coup attempt. For around a five-day period, we stayed there, I told him, ‘Son, we will read five pages every day here.’ He is reading the Quran well and we will repeat it there. Mashallah, he is slowly coming to a good point. He had his lesson that night and the events unfolded in the later hours,” Erdoğan said in an interview with private broadcaster 24 TV.

Ahmet Akif Albayrak is the son of the president’s daughter Esra Albayrak and Energy Minister Berat Albayrak.

The photograph was published by pro-government daily Yeni Şafak and immediately circulated on social media.

Erdoğan was holidaying in the southern resort of Marmaris with his family on the night of the attempted takeover. After being informed about “some kind of movement” in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities, his plane took off and landed at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport safely despite reportedly being pursued by warplanes belonging to putschists.