A doctored video appearing to show Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressing a desire to see Imran Khan, the jailed ex-prime minister of Pakistan, surfaced online during the Turkish president’s visit to the South Asian country in February 2025. The clip has been altered from footage captured during a previous trip Erdogan took in 2020, when Khan was premier.
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remembers Imran Khan, says he wished to shake hands with Imran Khan,” reads the Urdu-language caption of a Facebook post published February 14.
The video, which accumulated more than 102,000 views, circulated among Khan’s supporters across social media platforms after Erdogan arrived in Pakistan on February 13 for an official visit (archived link).
The clip quotes Erdogan as saying: “Greetings to all my Pakistani brothers. Pakistan is a country very close to Turkey and I have very good memories of this nation. When I last visited Pakistan, I was welcomed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan and today Shehbaz Sharif is ruling the country as Prime Minister. I wish Imran Khan was among you today and I could shake hands with him. But I hope we will see each other again in the future. Pakistan is my second home.”
Screenshot taken February 19, 2025 of the false Facebook post
Khan was arrested in May 2023 after being ousted from office and mounting an unprecedented campaign of defiance against Pakistan’s powerful military leaders (archived link).
The former cricket star’s detention over graft allegations sparked nationwide unrest, some targeting armed forces installations, and prompting rare prosecutions of civilians in military courts.
Khan’s May 2023 detention lasted a matter of days but he was re-arrested three months later and has remained imprisoned since, facing a parade of court cases he claims are politically motivated.
‘Significantly edited’
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared footage led to a YouTube video from Samaa television showing the speech Erdogan gave to the Pakistani parliament in February 2020 (archived link).
The video title says: “President Tayyip Erdogan Complete Speech To Joint Session of Parliament | 14 Feb 2020.” Erdogan also posted his address on XÂ (archived link).
The Turkish president did not say in his speech that he wished Khan was present and that he wanted to shake his hand. The full video also shows Khan was sitting in the prime minister’s chair and listening to Erdogan.
Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the Samaa television video
The clip shared online has several inconsistencies suggesting it was doctored.
Erdogan’s lip movements are abnormal and do not synchronise with what he says. The original video features a male interpreter’s voice, while the altered version has a female voice.
Further keyword searches found a similar YouTube video and claim. The description says the clip’s “sound or visuals were significantly edited or digitally generated”.
AFP has previously debunked Khan-related claims here and here.
