Kemal Kilicdaroglu PKK links deepfake

Turkey presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu has been falsely linked to the militant Kurdish organisation PKK by current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan using a manipulated, deepfake video. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US, EU, and Turkey.

Erdogan had shown the video, which purportedly showed Kilicdaroglu giving way PKK founder Murat Karayilan, at a political rally. Research shows it had been manipulated by combining two separate videos with different backgrounds and content. 

Kilicdaroglu responded by publicly accusing Russia of spreading deepfakes, including 'tapes that were exposed in this country yesterday.' The Kremlin denied the accusation.

Earlier, Muharrem Ince, another Presidential candidate, withdrew after the release of an alleged sex tape, which he accused of being a deepfake designed to damage his reputation and campaign.