Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said he was postponing a planned visit to Abu Dhabi due to a reported health issue involving Emirati leader Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan before deleting the message.
The message, posted by Erdogan’s team on X, said he had spoken with Al Nahyan by phone.
“During the course of the call, President Erdogan expressed his sadness over the health problem experienced by (President) Al Nahyan and wished him a prompt recovery,” said the three-paragraph message.
Erdogan would reschedule his trip to the United Arab Emirates at a later date, yet to be fixed, the message added.
Although the message — of which AFP obtained a screen grab — was swiftly deleted from the account, it had already been picked up by official Turkish media.
Turkey’s state broadcaster likewise took down its article on Erdogan that referenced the Emirati leader’s health issue.
The official Emirati news agency, WAM confirmed the telephone conversation between the two leaders but made no mention that Erdogan’s visit had been postponed.
When Contacted by AFP, neither the Turkish presidency nor the Emirati authorities — who have not issued any statement regarding their president’s health — have yet answered.
The Emirati leader’s team on Saturday evening released photos taken the same day showing Al Nahyan, known as MBZ, smiling and appearing in good health, alongside Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar.
AFP
