Call it vision: ‘Presidency’ Twitter account for Turkish PM Erdoğan obtained four years ago

ISTANBUL

Although Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s candidacy for the upcoming August presidential elections was announced July 1, it has been revealed that someone with a strong sense of foresight had opened a Twitter account for the “might-be-president” four years ago. 

The account was opened in 2010 under the username “@cbrte” with “cb” referring to “president” in Turkish and “rte,” the prime minister’s initials.

“This Twitter account was obtained in order to be used when the prime minister [Erdoğan] becomes president,” the first post shared by the account said four years ago.

Erdoğan has no verified personal accounts on Twitter or Facebook.

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has confirmed expectations, announcing Erdoğan as its candidate for the upcoming presidential elections at a lavish presentation July 1, with the attendance of nearly 4,000 party members.