An unexpected event occurred in the great hall of the UN while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was speaking at the podium. At the height of his denunciation of the Israeli genocide in Gaza, a sound interruption occurred, i.e. the microphone malfunctioned, leaving the Turkish leader alone with his facial expressions.
This interruption in the audio has been called "deliberate sabotage" by some Turkish media.
After Erdogan accused Israel of genocide from the UN podium, the sound was cut off, and Turkish media claim this is a "deliberate sabotage". pic.twitter.com/PLlQr5ShEp
— Sprinter Express (@SprinterExpres0) September 23, 2025
But according to the Turkish Communications Directorate, it is an automatic shutdown, as stated in a statement.
"Speech by heads of state and government has a duration of five minutes, while other speakers have three minutes," it was emphasized.
As TRT reports, noting that, as for other heads of state, the limit for President Erdogan was five minutes within this framework, the directorate said: "It is not true that the President was not allowed to speak or that his words were interrupted during the speech."
The Directorate informed that there were interruptions only due to applause at several moments when President Erdogan was speaking, and further explained that the microphone was automatically turned off at the end of the fifth minute, according to technical procedures.
"Then, the President finished his speech a few moments later. Similarly, the microphone of the President of Indonesia was also turned off in accordance with the same procedure," it added, according to TRT.