Ankara’s AKP mayor forgets ban, asks residents to send complaints via Twitter on billboards

ANKARA

Ankara Municipality has assured residents they could send any complaint or request regarding its works with a simple tweet in brand new billboards across the town prepared after the government banned Twitter.

“One tweet is enough for demands, advice and complaints concerning Ankara,” the new ad of the municipality run by the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Melih Gökçek said.

Gökçek, a highly controversial figure, is known as an enthusiastic user of the social media network. He has several times drawn attention with his hashtag wars against foreign media outlets.

Gökçek himself could not resist tweeting even though the AKP government blocked access late March 21.

“I can send messages via my Twitter account because my DNS settings are open. But most probably after tomorrow, Twitter will be closed down completely,” Gökçek tweeted a day after the ban, adding: “I hope some people have learned a lesson from this ban.” 

Gökçek is running for a fifth term in the March 30 local elections with the intention of rounding his tenure on the helm of the Turkish capital to a quarter of  a century.