CNN did not report that Turkey is moving a warship toward Gaza
CLAIM: Footage of an aircraft carrier is part of a CNN report about Turkey moving a warship toward the Gaza Strip.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The footage shows decade-old clips of the USS George H.W. Bush and the USS Harry S. Truman with the CNN logo added in. The outlet did not report the claim, and an official in Turkey confirmed it is untrue.
THE FACTS: Following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s condemnation of Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza in a Wednesday address, some on social media shared a video fabricated to look like a CNN report as proof that Turkey had signaled possible military action in the conflict.
The video shows footage of two aircraft carriers and has a CNN logo in the bottom-right corner.
“On Monday, Turkish president urged Israel against indiscriminately attacking civilians in its war with Hamas militants in Gaza,” a woman’s voice says as the footage plays. “Turkey, moving a carrier strike group closer to Israel, are staring at a complete breakdown in their relationship and it’s unclear if it will ever recover.”
One tweet that shared the clip had received more than 8,800 likes and had been shared more than 4,600 times as of Wednesday.
But the video does not come from CNN, and Turkey has dismissed the social media posts.
The video does not appear on CNN’s website, and Emily Kuhn, a spokesperson for the network, confirmed to The Associated Press that it “is not authentic and did not air on CNN.”
In a statement, the Turkish presidency’s Directorate of Communications wrote that “the allegation made by various social media posts through footage showing a ‘Turkish warship en route to Palestine’ is untrue.”
Two different videos from the U.S. Navy showing its aircraft carriers were used to create the fabricated report.
One, from 2013, shows the USS George H.W. Bush hosting the first successful catapult launch of an unmanned aircraft from its flight deck. The other, from 2012, shows an unmanned aircraft taxiing on the USS Harry S. Truman.
The latest Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 after Hamas launched a deadly incursion into southern Israeli towns. Thousands of people, from both sides, have been killed or injured in the ensuing conflict.
In an address to his ruling party’s legislators on Wednesday, Erdogan said he has canceled plans to visit Israel as part of Turkey’s policy of normalizing its relations with the Jewish state, calling Israel’s action in Gaza one of the “bloodiest, most disgusting and most savage” in history.
He also described Hamas militants as a “liberation group” trying to protect its lands and citizens and called for an immediate cease-fire, among other steps toward peace.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
