Earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria since February 6. More than 48,000 people As a result (till February 23, 2023) lost their lives. False claims of natural disaster continue to circulate – and we have Many that Already checked.
In one Currently distributed video Turkey’s response to the earthquakes is told. According to Telegram, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said: “There were no coincidences, we told that to the US ambassador. Turkey rejected NATO enlargement a week ago and then suffered a devastating earthquake.
The statement that the earthquake was not a coincidence refers to a conspiracy story about the US research project HAARP. Since the 1990s, myths have been spread that facilities designed to study the effects of radio waves on the atmosphere can affect the weather or cause natural disasters. This was already done in 1996 Glass Denied and now repeatedly rejected by scientists (Here And Here)
As it stands, there is also the fact that the video was taken before the earthquake, so logically Soylu is not talking about earthquakes in it. NATO was also not mentioned in his speech.
Video of Turkey’s interior minister before the earthquake
The portion of the video that is currently going viral is 30 seconds long. Turkish Interior Minister Soylu speaks in this. In the first few seconds, an English voice says that there are no coincidences: Turkey rejects NATO expansion, then gets hit by a massive earthquake.
For the remaining seconds of the video, only the Home Secretary’s voice is heard, with English subtitles visible from the beginning. Accordingly, Soylu looks at the American ambassador and says: “Keep your dirty hands off Turkey.” According to the verses, Soylu is not talking about earthquakes or NATO. We have automatically translated the video by software – the words “NATO” and “earthquake” do not appear in this translation either.
To find the source of the video, we searched On Google in English After the key words “Interior Minister Turkey” and “US Ambassador”. So we saw several media reports An article by Bloomberg From February 3 – three days before the earthquake. It informs Soylu’s criticism of the United States: Many Western countries, including Germany, are closed In early February Their embassies in Turkey. This is said to be due to the fear of rioting due to the burning of the Koran. The Turkish Interior Minister then accused the US of waging propaganda against Turkey.
The full video can be found on the Home Secretary’s Twitter channel
with the date of BloombergIn the article, we were able to specifically search the Twitter channel of the Turkish Interior Minister. We found it there A minute and a half longer version The currently streaming portion of the video begins at minute 0:59. We have also automatically translated this version and do not refer to the Turkish word NATO or earthquake.
Telegram channel “News from Russia” is known for disinformation by pro-Russian influencers Alina Lip Spread in Germany statement – then labeled them Wrongly. “The video was taken out of context with clear notification from Turkey,” it said. The old post with the claim is still online (as of February 23).
Earthquakes in Turkey are not a natural phenomenon, a story we often come across. We reviewed two videos that recommend this—both made In other places And old people.
Editing: Matthias Bau, Gabriel Scherndl
