Kilicdaroglu: "I'm being imposed a total blackout"

The opposition's presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdarglu said two days ahead of the presidential election runoff in Turkey that he is "under a total blackout."

Tümüyle karartma altındayım. pic.twitter.com/1ztB6lv44f

— Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (@kilicdarogluk) May 26, 2023

Referring to smearing campaigns through video manipulation by his rival Recep Tayyip Erdogan , "irregularities at poll stations" in the first round of elections, attempts by the interior minister to ban volunteers from serving as poll attendants in the runoff, bans on their public screening of campaign material and disinformation campaigns in social media, Kilicdaroglu said:

"And now I'm unable to send short messages about my campaign schedule to the members of the media. Telecommunication companies prevent me from sending SMS to journalists. I'm now being imposed a total blackout."

Kilicdaroglu's tweet came shortly after Turkish daily Birgun exposed a notification by Turkey's Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK), who instructed mobile operators on Friday not to allow political propaganda through video, voice and text messages.

Birgun posted a copy of the notification, which cited the Supreme Electoral Board's (YSK) announcement on 15 March that "propaganda by sending video, voice and text messages to the citizens' e-mail addresses and mobile phones is prohibited."

The ban does not apply to Kilicdaroglu's rival Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as he is currently serving as president, nor newly elected deputies Suleyman Soylu, Adil Karaismailoglu and Bekir Bozdag, who are still serving in Erdogan's administration as, respectively, minister of the interior, minister of transport and infrastructure and minister of justice.

BTK operates under the Turkish presidency.