Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
Through articles, it has been claimed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described Serbia as the strongest partner in the region.
Portal "pamphlet.net" wrote on Thursday (February 12) an article titled: "Erdogan calls Serbia the strongest partner in the region, his lackeys in Tirana and Pristina are hiding".
The article contains Erdogan's statements after a meeting he held in Ankara with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
What did Erdogan really say?
At no point in his speech at the joint conference with Vučić did Erdogan describe Serbia as Turkey's strongest partner in the region.
What does the content say?
"Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Aleksandar Vučić at the Presidential Palace in Ankara today and declared Serbia as his country's main partner in the Balkans", it is stated in the introduction to the article.
The content continues with the announcement of the Turkish president on Facebook. It is shown that in the post, Erdogan wrote that he discussed with Vučić what can be done in terms of protecting stability and strengthening economic development in the Balkans. It is also shown about the increase in the number of Turkish-owned companies operating in Serbia, as well as the increase in the total amount of investments.
"Our growing trade and investment with Serbia are the locomotive of our relations," Erdogan was further quoted.
According to the content, Erdogan said that he and Vučić also discussed what can be done to develop the region, which they see as a bridge of friendship between the two countries. Erdogan is then quoted as saying that today Turkey is the second tourist destination for Serbian tourists, and that Turkish citizens are in first place on the list of tourists visiting Serbia. The Turkish president also spoke about the interest in increasing the volume of Turkish language teaching in Serbian schools.
The article moves into more commentary content, continuing with: "It is clear that we are not dealing with a purely protocol development, but with a significant political escalation of relations between the two countries."
The article then goes on to discuss the historical relations between Serbia and Turkey, which, according to the article, have never faded. It also discusses the relations of the Ottoman Empire with the Albanians.
However, nowhere is Erdogan quoted as saying that Turkey considers Serbia to be its strongest partner in the region.
In addition to the article on the website, a video with the same title has been published on the “Pamphlet” YouTube channel. The caption there is: “Erdogan calls Serbia the strongest partner, lackeys hide in Tirana".
The same claim was also published by the portal "shqipmedia.com".
Furthermore, hibrid.info has also verified the post used in the article. There, too, no such setting as claimed was found (see here).
Even on the website of the Presidency of Turkey, in the statement about the meeting with Vučić and the joint conference, such a qualification was not mentioned (see here).
Meanwhile, even if it is required in "Google"With the words "Erdogan: Serbia the strongest partner" there are no articles in other media.
Analyze:
The claim that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described Serbia as Turkey's strongest partner in the region is not based on facts.
From the verification of official statements and the post that was taken as a basis for the article, Erdogan has spoken about increasing cooperation and investments. However, he has not qualified Serbia as Turkey's strongest partner in the region.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses the content as "Disinformation" and "Clickbait".
Reasoning:
"Disinformation" is defined as information content that contains a "mix" of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful attributes, and that is created and/or distributed with the deliberate intention of causing harm. The motive behind the producers/distributors of disinformation content lies in achieving a political, financial, psychological or social goal.
“Clickbait” is considered to be informational content whose title is general and does not disclose the location of the event, context and relevance. Such texts and articles aim to attract the attention of the audience with sensational headlines with misleading consequences, which do not accurately clarify the content of the article. “Clickbait” headlines are mainly made to attract readability in the case of media publications and/or to earn from clicks in the case of commercial publications.