"Stay within your limits", Turkish President warns US daily over critical editorial

Istanbul, May 26: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday lashed out at the New York Times for allegedly interfering in his country's affairs with a critical editorial. "Know your place", the president told the US daily.

Erdogan took on the "impolite" editorial in the daily last week which according to him, literally gave orders to the United States. The incident happened ahead of the June 7 legislative polls when Turkey is witnessing a controversy over media rights.

The 61-year-old president, who took office in 2014, issued his warning to the newspaper in a televised speech. He said the daily overstepped its limits of freedom by publishing such an editorial.

The US newspaper had published an editorial on Friday titled 'Dark Clouds Over Turkey' criticising Erdogan's rule in Turkey and accused him of a crackdown ahead of the polls. The newspaper editorial spoke about the Turkish authorities' steps against the Dogan Media Group over its coverage of the death sentence handed to former president Mohammed Morsi. The Dogan Media Group owns the Hurriyet daily.

"The United States and Turkey´s other NATO allies should be urging him (Erdogan) to turn away from this destructive path," the editorial said.

Turkey is witnessing political tensions ahead of the June 7 elections with the ruling Justice and Development Party fighting to maintain the dominance it has seen in the country since 2002 when it first came to power.

Oneindia News