About

The Lindsay Lohan/Turkish Government Conspiracy refers to a rumor that American actress Lindsay Lohan is being paid by the Turkish Government to spread support for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish Government.

Origin

On September 27th, 2016, Page Six^[1] reported that Lohan was in Turkey, where she was spending time with Syrian refugees. Middle Eastern news site Al Monitor reported that Lohan had visited the same refugee camps as Angelina Jolie, but that Jolie "never elicited the gushing enthusiasm afforded Lohan,” and that "'Lohan has waded into Turkish politics in a big way, spouting, among other things, one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s worthier mantras: ‘The world is bigger than five' -- which is a critique of the UN Security Council.'"

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On October 12th, 2016, Lindsay Lohan gave an interview to Haberturk TV in which she praised President Erdoğan, especially after the Turkish military attempted and failed to usurp him in a coup in July. She also praised Turkey for the freedom it affords women, making particular note of the poor treatment in America she received after studying the Koran.

“In Turkey you have free will as a woman, that’s why it’s amazing here, you can do what you want and it’s accepted. Whereas I am in America and I am holding the Koran and I am the devil. No.

On November 1st, Perez Hilton tweeted^[2] a video of an interview Lohan gave at the opening of her new nightclub in Turkey on October 15th, making note of her bizarre accent, which sounded European.

The following day, Buzzfeed^[3] published an article chronicling the Turkish population's response to the video and Lohan's suddenly deep interest in Turkish politics. Many Turkish Twitter users, particularly those against Erdogan, wondered if Lohan was being paid by the Turkish government to spread his beliefs, tweeting in Turkish, “These bullies might have even given her money to have her say ‘the world is bigger than five’”^[4] and “I wonder how Lindsay Lohan is spending all the money she made by coming to Turkey and putting on a hijab…”^[5]

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