Presidential candidate Kılıçdaroğlu places his ad on banned social network, vows to have it opened

Main opposition bloc Nation Alliance’s presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has placed an advertisement on Ekşi Sözlük, which was recently blocked by the government, and promised to have the social network opened on May 15, a day after the elections.

Tuesday April 18 2023 03:32 pm

This picture shows the main page of Ekşi Sözlük with Kılıçdaroğlu's ad on the top.

Duvar English

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader and the Nation Alliance’s presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on April 17 placed an advertisement on the social network Ekşi Sözlük, which was blocked on Feb. 22.

The advertisement wrote “#May15MassOpeningCeremony” along with the promise of "This site will be opened on May 15th.”

In the ad, there were photographs of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş who will serve as vice presidents if Kılıçdaroğlu wins the presidency.

Kılıçdaroğlu had previously commented on the banning of Ekşisözlük by tweeting: "They shut down Twitter at the most critical hours (during the Feb. 6 earthquakes) and I was unable to reach anyone calling for help. Now they have silenced Ekşi Sözlük. The Directorate of Communication cannot tolerate anything other than the lies it produces. Take your hand off Ekşi Sözlük immediately!"

The Ankara 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace had on Feb. 22 ruled for a ban on Ekşi Sözlük's website following an application by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK). The decision was based on posts criticizing the government with regards to its response to the earthquakes.

Journalist İsmail Saymaz later wrote that the decision to block access to Ekşi Sözlük was requested by the Turkish Presidency.