Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had stomach flu, was forced to cancel his commitments Thursday for the second day in a row, 17 days before presidential and legislative elections, with uncertain results.

But the country's 69-year-old president, who spent twenty of them in power, will make a video intervention at around 13:30 (10:30 GMT), during the inauguration of the country's first nuclear plant, to dispel rumors about his likely health.

The inauguration of the Akkuyu station in the south of the country was a major station for the Turkish president during the current week.

Erdogan was counting on the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin as well, but the latter decided to speak via video as well.

On Wednesday evening, the head of the communication department in the Turkish presidency, Fahrettin Altun, sought to silence the rumors circulating on social media, after announcing the cancellation of two activities for the country's president that were scheduled for Thursday.

"We categorically reject these baseless allegations about the president's health," Elton wrote in a tweet, sharing widely circulated tweets saying that the Turkish president had suffered a heart attack.

It began on Tuesday evening when, 20 days before the May 14 poll, the president was scheduled to give a long interview to two Turkish television stations after he had attended public events in three different cities earlier in the day.

The program was delayed without any explanation for an hour and a half, and suddenly stopped ten minutes after it started, while a journalist was asking a question.

And he heard the voice of an unidentified person surprised by what happened behind the camera before the program stopped, while he stood asking the question about his seat.

The country's president returned to appear on the screen, pale in color, after a quarter of an hour, before he cut the interview short, explaining that he had "stomach flu."

In a tweet, the Turkish president, whose gait has become sluggish at times in recent years, wrote the next morning that he was "resting at home today on the advice of doctors," canceling his participation in three public events in Central Anatolia.

"There is no need to worry, his condition is good. He will resume his program, I think (...) starting tomorrow," said Turkish Minister of Family Affairs Gerya Yanik, in response to questions from the private "NTV" station on Thursday morning.

However, this malaise does not come at the right time for the country's president. Erdogan, who has been in power since 2003, first as prime minister and then as president, faces an opposition that has formed a united front that puts it in a good position, according to the results of several opinion polls.

As for his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who was nominated by a coalition of six opposition parties, he received tacit support from the Peoples' Democratic Party, the third political force in the country, which is considered the kingmaker in the presidential ballot.

Erdogan had planned to participate in two or three election rallies in the last two weeks before the election, after breaking the fast during Ramadan each evening in a different town.

The health of the Turkish president sparked speculation after he underwent surgery in the large intestine at the end of 2011, and then a second surgery in 2012.

Erdogan, who was prime minister at the time, publicly denied that he had colon cancer, explaining that the operations were aimed at removing polyps.