CNN Turk darkens image of David Lammy and says he is spreading 'black propaganda’ for Kurds

Attack comes after MP posted video appearing to show mother holding child killed in Turkish shelling

CNN Turk – the Turkish licensee of the American news giant – has published an article accusing David Lammy of spreading “black propaganda” about Ankara’s invasion of Syria.

The broadcaster promoted the online piece with a tweet showing a darkened image of the Labour MP for Tottenham.

Many commentators online noted that both the terminology and the photo appeared to be making reference to Mr Lammy's race. "Black propaganda" refers in Turkish to a smear campaign.

The broadside, published on Sunday, came after Mr Lammy posted his own tweet showing a video in which a Kurdish mother appears to be holding her dead child.

In the minute-long footage, she says the child has been killed in Turkish shelling of the region.

“The human face of Trump decision to give Turkey a free pass to attack Kurdish allies in north-eastern Syria,” Mr Lammy wrote in the post. “Heartbreaking.”

But CNN Turk – which, though based in Istanbul, comes under the wider CNN umbrella – said in its own report that elements of the video were false and accused the MP of spreading lies.

The tweet was later deleted

Responding to the piece online, many suggested that the terminology used appeared to have racial connotations.

The MP's office has been contacted for comment.

After The Independent contacted CNN, the tweet was removed but no reply provided.

Ankara has caused international outrage with its invasion of north-eastern Syria where hundreds of thousands of Kurds have created a de facto state that has become one of the region’s few stable areas.

Turkish president Recep Erdogan accuses the Kurds of being terrorists and says it wants to drive them out of a planned so-called “safe zone” reaching 30km into Syria.