#TurkeyElections - Unusual: Erdoğan ‘off-air’ for longer than 24 hours

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has unusually stayed off-air from Turkish broadcasters for longer than 24 hours - an unprecedented length of time considering his relentless TV speeches over the past few months before the general election.

Erdoğan had been appearing on Turkish TV stations as often as three times a day during the campaign season for the June 7 general elections. He even gave a brief, deliberately non-partisan speech at noon on the day he was voting in Istanbul on June 7.

After the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which he co-founded, lost its parliamentary majority in the election, Erdoğan released a statement calling on all parties to assess the results of the June 7 parliamentary election “healthily and realistically.” 

On June 8, he left the presidential mansion in Istanbul after following the elections for 20 hours and flew to Ankara at 4:30 p.m. Turkish President also postponed the meeting he was expected to hold with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to June 9.

Erdoğan did not make any public appearances on June 8.