Folk king İbo ‘done’ with Twitter, but ban incites cult actor Bilginer to jump in

ISTANBUL

The blocking of access to Twitter in Turkey has persuaded cult actor Haluk Bilginer to open an official account, while other celebrities backing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) are having difficulty justifying Twitter use to themselves.

In the latter category is the folk singer İbrahim Tatlıses, who paradoxically showed his support to the Twitter ban by tweeting his opinion on March 23. As many other social media users pointed out the apparent contradiction, “İbo” decided to call it quits and announced that he would close his account on March 24.

“There you are dishonest [people]. This wasn’t my cup of tea anyway. I would ask if you were brave boys, but you aren’t and I’m not your partner. I am done with Twitter, just letting you know,” Tatlıses tweeted on his “imparatoribo” (İbo the Emperor) account.

The man considered to be the king of folk in Turkey said the ban was necessary because Twitter was becoming an “unfriendly environment.”

Still, one man’s departure leads to another’s emergence, and actor Bilginer, known for his many original movie and stage characters, opened his first official account after the ban was announced.

“I’d have had no intention to come if it wasn’t banned,” said Bilginer’s first post, retweeted over 7,000 times by users easily working around the ban.