Dr. Oz’s alleged ties with the Turkish Islamist government stem back to multiple encounters the television star had with members of the Turkish government – including President
Recep Erdoğan in 2014.
Besides President Erdogan, Oz also reportedly met with numerous members of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party, including Minister of Justice
Abdulhamit Gül in 2019.
Not even one year before their encounter, in which they stood arm-in-arm during a Turkish-heritage parade in Brooklyn, Gül was sanctioned by the United States government for leading “an entity that has engaged in serious human rights abuses.”
Oz also came under fire in 2017 when he chose to represent President Erdoğan’s bodyguards after they assaulted a group of Americans protesting the Justice and Development Party in Washington, D.C.
Aside from his alleged ties to the Turkish government, Dr. Oz has also come under scrutiny recently for false and dangerous claims he reportedly made in the past regarding weight-loss pills and COVID-19 cures.
“Information can harm — that’s the key thing we need to appreciate here,” said
Harald Schmidt, an assistant professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, regarding Dr. Oz’s promotion of the dangerous drug hydroxychloroquine that was once being pushed as a cure for COVID-19.
“His track record is pretty concerning. What we’ve seen so far does not instill confidence that this will help reasonable politics.”