A reporter with a Turkish newspaper has admitted he made up quotations about White House adviser Jared Kushner—including comments that Kushner believes Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “trying to make his country great.”
White House reporter Yavuz Ataly of daily paper Akşam published the comments from Kushner on Thursday, claiming it as a sit-down interview. Ataly, who did not reply to a request for comment, has since told the Daily Caller he fabricated the quotations after getting a selfie photograph with Kushner.
According to a translation of the Akşam article, Ataly wrote that Kushner said he believed Erdogan “is trying to make his country great. We are watching his work with appreciation.” He also quoted Kushner praising Turkey’s involvement with the United States in combatting terrorism.
A White House official said Ataly’s report was a “fake interview that never happened.” The official says Ataly asked Kushner for the selfie.
Akşam is a pro-Erdogan publication, considered propaganda on behalf of the Turkish president’s Islamist regime, with a small circulation.
