Turkey's state-run news agency fires freelance reporter for mocking Nice attack

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency has announced that it has fired a freelance reporter who mocked the terrorist attack in Nice on his Twitter account.

The agency said freelance reporter Ali Kahrıman was dismissed on the grounds of sharing an “irresponsible post” after the attack, stating he reported for the agency occasionally.

“It has been determined that Ali Kahrıman, who was not our permanent employee but a freelancer whose reports we used occasionally, shared an extremely irresponsible post on his personal Twitter account after the terror attack in the Nice province of France which killed 84 people. This person was dismissed from Anadolu Agency. Respectfully announced to the public,” the agency said in a statement issued on its Twitter account.

“The truck which ploughed into the public in the attack in France failed to brake. It is not a terror incident,” Kahrıman tweeted, while also adding a laughing emoji, following the attack, which killed at least 84 on July 14.
 
Kahrıman’s tweet drew angry reaction from Turkish social media users. He later deleted the tweet before subsequently deactivating his account.