Turkish pop singer announces AKP used his song in campaign video without permission

Duvar English

Turkish pop singer Kenan Doğulu has announced that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) used his song titled “Yaparım Bilirsin” (“You know I would do it” in English) in one of their campaign videos without his permission.

The AKP’s Istanbul Provincial Organization on March 28 released a video about Turkey’s first indigenous electric vehicle brand TOGG.

The video shows President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s previous remarks promising to roll out TOGG and driving one of the car’s prototypes. The video also displays a footage that shows opposition Nation Alliance’s presidential Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu criticizing the government over the promised car. “They said, ‘We are making producing.’ Where is it? Don’t fool the nation,” Kılıçdaroğlu is heard saying in the video.

The video ends with an image of Erdoğan driving a prototype of the car along with the caption of “You know I would do it” and with Doğulu’s song playing in the back.

The AKP’s Istanbul Provincial Organization wrote in their tweet, “Say again ‘You can’t do it,’ we will try something.”  

Doğulu on March 28 announced that he had found out about the AKP using his song upon the warning of his friends and colleagues. “I, like you, have seen this (video and song being used) for the first time on social media and I am very puzzled,” Doğulu said.

Turkey’s electric car Project TOGG is a key campaign pledge for Erdoğan as the president is preparing for his toughest election yet. The first model of the car was unveiled in October and sales are set to begin in the third quarter.

The AKP’s video was released shortly after Kılıçdaroğlu officially launched his election campaign with a video titled “I promise the spring will come again,” which gained huge attraction on social media.