Erdogan live interview cut short after brief sickness

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suffered an unexpected health issue late Tuesday evening during a live interview on television, which briefly stopped broadcasting.

Erdoğan was being interviewed on Turkish TV when the program was interrupted for about 20 minutes, after the president suddenly felt ill off-camera.

He later came back to the screen, explaining he had suffered from a “serious stomach cold” and had considered canceling the interview - which started one-and-a-half hours late - after doing “intense campaign work” on Monday and Tuesday. Erdogan said he’d considered canceling the interview due to his stomach issues. 

“Naturally, we are facing such issues from time-to-time amid such a busy schedule,” Erdogan said as he returned to the broadcast on Kanal 7.

Erdogan is scheduled to make campaign appearances in three separate provinces in central Turkey on Wednesday and his schedule was confirmed after the incident. 

“Thank God, our president’s health is good,” his spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said later.