Turkey's communications chief slams UK media reports

ANKARA

Turkey’s communications director said Friday it is a pity that some media outlets have shown great interest in allegations that personal protective equipment (PPE) purchased in the UK from Turkey was “useless."

Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter that the mentality of those who relied on the anti-Turkish news without determining its accuracy and reliability highlighted the importance of independent, impartial, credible and responsible media.

Altun said that both UK and Turkish officials refuted the baseless allegations and revealed the truth.

If the media stops chasing the truth by being drawn into a vortex of lies, superstition and sensation, there could be no defense of democracy, he added.

“Stories in the UK media that 400K items of PPE sent from Turkey are unusable are untrue,” Dominick Chilcott, the UK’s ambassador to Turkey, said Thursday.

“There is no problem with medical supplies that are donated by Turkey or purchased from the country. All of them comply with international standards,” said Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kiran.

Two weeks ago, the British government made an announcement that 400,000 coveralls would be delivered from Turkey. However, the delivery had been delayed for days due to reasons originating from the private supplier. The delivery only became possible when the Turkish government stepped in to eliminate delaying contractual problems.

The claim was repeated all through Thursday by almost all main media organizations including state broadcasters BBC and Sky News as well as by local newspapers the Guardian and Financial Times a day after the UK achieved the worst death toll in Europe from the coronavirus and second-worst worldwide.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar