Turkish Twitter users question Erdogan's 'Good Samaritan' act
Turkish Twitter users question Erdogan's 'Good Samaritan' act
After Turkish President Erdogan was depicted saving a suicidal man's life over the festive period, many took to Twitter to claim that the story is not quite what it seems...
2 min read
29 Dec, 2015
New details have come to light surrounding the 'suicidal man' [Getty]
Over Christmas, a man in Turkey appeared to have had enough of life and scaled Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, apparently preparing to jump.
Fortunately, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan just happened to be passing by.
He stopped his car and the President’s bodyguards managed to talk to man down.
Cameras depicted Erdogan simultaneously saving the grateful man’s life while finishing a phone call.
Turkish media afterwards said that the suicidal man was having problems with his wife, suggesting he had Kurdish origins and was from the Siirt province, in the southeast.
The latter detail was notable, as the Turkish government is currently embroiled in clashes with Kurds in the South East of the country.
However, many Turkish Twitter users are saying that the event is not all it appeared to be.
Witnesses to the event said that the suicidal man had been seen arriving to the scene in "a private car" with other passengers.
Social media users identified the man as "Vezir Catras" and alleged that he was a member of a subsidiary of the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party.
Trawling through his Facebook, Twitter users apparently found that Catras had shared photos of Erdogan, his voting slip which had the AKP party ticked, and himself sitting in an office with a Turkish flag on the desk.
Fortunately, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan just happened to be passing by.
He stopped his car and the President’s bodyguards managed to talk to man down.
Cameras depicted Erdogan simultaneously saving the grateful man’s life while finishing a phone call.
Turkish media afterwards said that the suicidal man was having problems with his wife, suggesting he had Kurdish origins and was from the Siirt province, in the southeast.
The latter detail was notable, as the Turkish government is currently embroiled in clashes with Kurds in the South East of the country.
However, many Turkish Twitter users are saying that the event is not all it appeared to be.
Witnesses to the event said that the suicidal man had been seen arriving to the scene in "a private car" with other passengers.
Social media users identified the man as "Vezir Catras" and alleged that he was a member of a subsidiary of the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party.
Trawling through his Facebook, Twitter users apparently found that Catras had shared photos of Erdogan, his voting slip which had the AKP party ticked, and himself sitting in an office with a Turkish flag on the desk.
— TC Ismail Yüksel (@ebcismail) December 25, 2015
" style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post
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The suicidal Catras also appeared to be happily married, and was posting cheerful status updates before he was poised to jump off Bosphorus Bridge.
Many commented that the event was like "a film" - though with dodgy production credentials.
Russian news outlets also reported the Turkish Twitterati’s comments.
Turkey is currently clashing with Russia over their policy in Syria, with Turkey "slamming" Russia today for their support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Yet Russian President Vladamir Putin is also no stranger to media stunts.
He has been shown hugging polar bears, fishing and horse riding – the last two done shirtless.
In 2008 he allegedly saved a camera crew from a tiger attack.
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