Erdogan appears via video link after health scare, inaugurates Turkish’s first nuclear plant

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated a nuclear power plant via video on Thursday in his first public appearance since falling ill on live TV and canceling campaign stops, as he sought to dispel concerns about his health weeks before a crucial election.

The 69-year-old leader looked pale sitting behind a desk surrounded by cabinet members, aides and political allies to preside at the event marking the delivery of the first fuel to the Russian-built Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in southern Turkey.

Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey for two decades, cancelled election rallies on Wednesday and Thursday after suffering what the health minister described as a gastrointestinal infection during a TV interview on Tuesday.

Turkish officials denied online rumours that Erdogan, who underwent intestinal surgery in 2011, had suffered a serious illness and was hospitalised. "We categorically reject such baseless claims regarding President (Erdogan’s) health,” his communications director, Fahrettin Altun tweeted.

Dr Fahrettin Koca, the health minister, said Erdogan was improving. "I was with him this morning. His health is fine,” Koca said on Thursday. "The effect of his gastrointestinal infection has decreased. He will continue his schedule.”

Erdogan, seeking a third term as president, has been campaigning hard as he faces an especially strong challenge in the May 14 election, attending several events per day. The latest opinion polls showed a slight lead for Erdogan’s main challenger, center-left opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who is backed by the Nation Alliance, a grouping of six political parties.

Kilicdaroglu and other members of the Alliance have expressed their wishes for Erdogan's speedy recovery.

In the video, Erdogan boasted that he was "proud to be making the move that will place Turkey among the nuclear power countries of the world.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin also participated by video at the ceremony. He described the plant the "biggest project in the history of Turkish-Russian ties.”

With Thursday's events, the Akkuyu plant officially became Turkey's first nuclear power facility even though construction is continuing. It is expected to produce about 10% of Turkey’s electricity needs once completed.

The plant, which is being built by Russia’s state nuclear energy company, Rosatom, is located 338 kilometres west of the epicenter of Feburary's devastating earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people.

The facility was not damaged and is being designed to endure powerful quakes. Still, its location, on the edge of a major seismic fault line, has raised concerns, especially in the nearby island nation of Cyprus.

Associated Press