The front-runner in the Turkish presidential elections threatened to cut ties with Russia as he claimed he had evidence of the Kremlin using ‘deepfake’ videos to sway voters, The Telegraph reports.
"If you want to continue our friendship after May 15, withdraw your hand from the Turkish state,” Kemal Kilicdaroglu demanded in a message written in Turkish and Russian.
Mr Kilicdaroglu, 74, who is narrowly leading in polls, accused Moscow of trying to manipulate the electorate to help keep his rival, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in power.
He claimed on Friday that he had “concrete” evidence proving that Russia is behind videos used by Mr Erdogan’s camp to smear him.
On Thursday a separate candidate dropped out of the race, claiming his face had appeared in a porn video using deepfake technology.
But Mr Kilicdaroglu is likely referring to another clip played by Mr Erdogan at a campaign rally last weekend which showed the leadership of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) singing and clapping to the opposition's campaign song.
A Kremlin spokesman earlier on Friday denied suggestions that Moscow was working to support one of the candidates in the Turkish elections.
Putin has enjoyed good relations with Mr Erdogan, whose authoritarian rule and anti-Western rhetoric have mirrored Moscow’s and helped undermine unity in Nato.
Mr Kilicdaroglu has previously said he will prioritise relations with the West over Russia and Vladimir Putin.
Opinion polls ahead of Sunday’s vote show Mr Kilicdaroglu is likely to defeat Mr Erdogan, although the election could go to a run-off.
Mr Kilicdaroglu is now hovering around the 50 per cent mark needed for an outright win on Sunday, while Mr Erdogan is below 45 per cent.
Muharrem Ince pulled out of the race on Thursday after fake sex pictures featuring his face surfaced on the internet. However, his withdrawal from the race is likely to benefit Mr Kilicdaroglu, throwing into doubt the accusations of Russian meddling.
Mr Ince accused the authorities of failing to protect his reputation and suggested someone used footage from “an Israeli porn website and added my face on it”.
