Turkish media outlets – including the BBC – fell for an April Fools’ news story that said the UN was planning a second Suez Canal for Egypt

  • Date: 02-Apr-2021
  • Source: Business Insider
  • Sector:Transport
  • Country:Egypt
  • Who else needs to know?

Turkish media outlets – including the BBC – fell for an April Fools’ news story that said the UN was planning a second Suez Canal for Egypt

An 'April Fools'' news article claiming the United Nations is looking into building a second Suez Canal appears to have been taken wholly seriously by major Turkish media outlets. 

On April 1, The Guardian published "'Suez 2'? Ever Given grounding prompts plan for canal along Egypt-Israel border," an article that rapidly gained attention given the current international interest in the canal. 

The article said that the UN was studying the feasibility of a second channel along the Egypt-Israel border. 

Several Turkish outlets appear to have taken it at face value, including BBC News Türkçe , which reported the story.

"The eyes and ears of the world were there! UN stepped in, rolled up sleeves for 2nd Suez Canal," read the headline used online by major national paper Hürriyet. 

T24, an online Turkish news outlet, also published the story. The pages have now been deleted, but can be found via Google's



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