In an article published late Thursday, The Economist weekly stigmatized President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a 'Sultan at bay' who is responsible of Turkey's 'tarnished' reputation, the 'autocracy' in the country, the Ankara suicide bombings, the 'renewed war' between the Turkish security forces and the PKK terrorists, 'assaults' on the free media and a so-called 'sense' that Turkey has sometimes been 'indulgent' towards ISIS militants.Accusing Erdoğan of trying to maximize AK Party's chances by "torpedoing the peace process with the country's Kurds" in the hope to push down the vote for the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the magazine claimed that the PKK terrorist organization and its affiliates "proved to be among the most effective opponents of ISIS."Even though the magazine accuses Erdoğan of enflaming the fighting between Turkey and the PKK terrorist organization and ending the peace process, the reality is quite the opposite.Two days after the Suruç bombing, perpetrated by an ISIS-linked suicide bomber named Şeyh Abdurrahman Alagöz last July, which claimed the lives of 34 and left over 100 wounded, the PKK terrorist organization baselessly accused Turkey of "cooperating with ISIS" and openly declared an end to the ceasefire that was the result of the reconciliation process started with the efforts of President Erdoğan.The ceasefire ended after the PKK killed two policemen in the Ceylanpınar district of the southeastern Şanlıurfa province. Since then, the PKK has killed over 100 Turkish citizens including civilians, children, soldiers and policemen.In another accusation, the magazine claimed that 'imperious' Erdoğan forced a second election to give the AK Party he left over a year ago after being elected president another chance to muster a simple majority in the parliament."The blame for much of this lies with the country's imperious president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The election he has engineered, the second in five months, is an attempt to entrench himself in power," the magazine said, further urging Turkish voters to "rebuke him by voting for his opponents and put him back in the ceremonial box he supposedly stepped into when he became the president a year ago."Labelling the presidency as a "ceremonial box" is another fault in the article as the president of Turkey has many significant powers, one of which is the right to call for early elections.Furthering the baseless accusation towards Turkey that it has sometimes been "worryingly indulgent" towards ISIS terror, the magazine claimed that Erdoğan "belatedly" allowed the U.S.-led coalition to use its Incirlik Air Base to strike ISIS targets in Northern Syria, and Turkish warplanes mostly struck PKK targets. As a country that has struggled with the PKK terror for over 30 years, Turkey hit many PKK targets inside and outside the country as it views the group as a threat to its national security. Listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the U.S., EU and many other countries, the PKK has killed over 30 thousand people in the country. Nevertheless, Turkey's war on PKK terror does not necessarily have to deter itself from fighting other terrorist groups, and so it has been carrying out an effective anti-terror campaign against many terrorist groups including ISIS and several leftist terrorist groups such as Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP/C).Turkey has so far continued its campaign against ISIS effectively, having arrested hundreds of militants and banning thousands from entering the country.The magazine also urged Turkish citizens not to "tone down" their criticisms of the president, openly urging to support Erdoğan's "rivals" although he is not even participating in the elections as he left AK Party over a year ago. Saying that Erdoğan and the government he led as the prime minister did much to reform Turkey and improve its economy, the magazine added in the article that Erdoğan is "no longer good" for the country.Speaking to Daily Sabah, Head of Department of Political Science and International Relations at Bahçeşehir University Gülnur Aybet criticized The Economist's move saying, "I was very puzzled when I read the Economist piece. My first thought was: what are they trying to do? First of all, how many people in Turkey actually read The Economist, let alone having ever heard of it? And even if they did, is this likely to change their voting habits? It would have been perfectly reasonable for a foreign editorial to point out the particular difficulties surrounding this election, and highlighting the concerns of some parts of the electorate over a possible AK Party majority and return to a single party government. On the other hand, it would of course also have to mention how a large part of the electorate are also hoping for a return to a single party government for the sake of stability."Aybet called The Economist's attempt to interfere in elections and direct the voters in Turkey 'a move beyond ridiculous'."But to actually run a story with the headline urging the Turkish people 'NOT' to vote for the AKP (AK Party), is insane at best," she added."How can a foreign journal impact election results in another country? It's as ridiculous as a Turkish newspaper urging British voters not to vote for the Conservative Party two days before a national election. But we also have to be wary in Turkey about very provocative headlines like this one and avoid knee jerk reactions," Aybet said. Aybet had also tweeted earlier in the day saying, "I think the editors of The Economist should be officially declared insane for thinking they can change election results in another country. If a Turkish newspaper ran a story urging the British people not to vote Conservative two days to an election, I'd find it equally ridiculous.""When I put my thoughts about this piece on social media, many of my British friends agreed with me and liked my comments. This is one very misguided editorial. It does not reflect Western perceptions of Turkey neither for that matter British public opinion on Turkey. Let us remember also that Britain has always been the strongest supporter of Turkish membership in the EU and we have many friends especially among the UK Conservatives in the European Parliament," Aybet highlighted.The magazine had previously urged Turkish citizens to back PKK-affiliated HDP in the June 7 general elections in the article named "Why Turks should vote Kurd," falsely implying that the PKK-backed HDP represents the whole Kurdish community in the country which has a population of over 20 million. A prominent part of the Kurdish people still support the ruling AK Party, which lifted the ban on the usage of the Kurdish language, inaugurating the channel TRT Kurdi which is broadcast in Kurdish, started the reconciliation process and directed investments and projects to Kurdish-majority cities in the eastern and southeastern regions of the country.Contributed by Mehmet Çelik