Does this viral video show scenes of protest in Istanbul with "tens of thousands" demonstrating against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan? No, that's not true: The footage dates back to 2024 and is related to a papal visit to East Timor. It has nothing to do with current events in Turkey.
The claim about the video appeared in a post on X (archived here) published on March 19, 2025 with a description that read:
Meanwhile, in Istanbul, tens of thousands are out demanding Adolf @RTErdogan to GTFO after arresting Istanbul's mayor. Time to leave Recep.
This is what the video looked like:
Meanwhile, in Istanbul, tens of thousands are out demanding Adolf @RTErdogan to GTFO after arresting Istanbul's mayor. Time to leave Recep. pic.twitter.com/h6aCk0jdAS
-- The Mossad: Satirical and Awesome (@TheMossadIL) March 19, 2025
However the video has been online since at least September 2024 when it was uploaded on Tiktok here (archived here) with a caption that read:
#timor #katolikroma #katolikku_keren #tasi3dilitimorleste🇹🇱 #pausfransiskus🙏😇🥰🥰 #timorleste🇹🇱🐊
Watch on TikTok
At the time Associated Press reported (archived here) about Pope Francis holding a massive event in East Timor, headlining "Pope Francis' Mass in East Timor draws 600,000 people, nearly half the population". The coverage included a video stream of the event with footage that included similar crowds:
