A recently surfaced video captures the Turkish president purportedly ‘slapping’ a young boy, stirring a flood of reactions on social media.
On 27 July, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the stage at the Aider Plateau Protection and Renewal Project’s opening ceremony in Rize.
While the event aimed to support urban transformation and disaster housing, it has been overshadowed by footage depicting Erdoğan’s interaction with a young boy who approached him on stage.
The event, broadcast by Dokuz 8 TV, shows the boy walking directly towards the president on stage.
As he reaches Erdoğan, the boy lifts his hand towards the president’s, smiling up at him. In response, Erdoğan raises his hand and appears to ‘slap’ the boy on the side of the face.
The boy continues to smile, then takes Erdoğan’s hand, kisses it, bows his head, receives some money, and walks away. Subsequently, another slightly older child approaches and hugs the president.
Reactions to the clip and the president’s behavior have been swift.
Several outlets have suggested that Erdoğan ‘slapped’ the boy because he did not ‘kiss his hand’ ‘immediately,’ a gesture traditionally seen as a sign of respect.
Some social media users defended the president. One Twitter user stated: “That isn’t a slap.”
Another commented: “It looked as though the boy smiled up at him like it was playful…. Definitely wasn’t to hurt him.”
A third shared: “It is Turkish culture and form of respect to kiss the hand of the elders and place it on your forehead. And b, that is definitely not a slap. I say culture and tradition is live and well in Turkye.”
A fourth echoed: “Love it Kissing the hand of your elders, parents, grandparents is a sign of respect especially in Turkey. If you don’t do it you get corrected. Especially at a young age.”
However, others did not grasp the potential cultural context and criticized the president’s actions.
One user remarked: “I wonder how he treats people behind closed doors if he can do that in front of camera.”
Another labeled it “pathetic behavior,” while a third called it “disgusting from Erdogan.”