ISTANBUL, Nov 3 — Turkey’s cyber police today launched a legal probe into "baseless” social media posts speculating about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s health.

In a statement, the police said they were investigating 30 people who used or retweeted the hashtag #olmus (#heisdead), which became a top trending topic of Turkish Twitter.

Underscoring the government’s sensitivity about the posts, Erdogan’s communications director Fahrettin Altun tweeted a short clip today showing the Turkish leader walking out of his official car along a turquoise carpet.

"Trust to friends, fear to enemies,” Altun wrote.

Rumours about the health of Erdogan, 67, have been swirling for years, with one of his doctors going on record in 2011 to deny that the Turkish leader had cancer.

In 2011, Erdogan, then prime minister, underwent laparoscopic gastrointestinal surgery, and has been walking more gingerly ever since.

Erdogan was last seen in public on Sunday, when he met US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome.

He then cancelled his planned attendance at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow citing a dispute over the security protocol.

The latest wave of speculation appears to have been prompted by Erdogan’s failure to attend a ceremony of his ruling party, which today celebrated the 19th anniversary of its rise to power. — AFP