Turkish PM’s top adviser’s Twitter account gets hacked

ISTANBUL

Mustafa Varank is one of Prime Minister Erdoğan's most active advisers on Twitter. HÜRRİYET caption

A group of hackers have hacked the Twitter account of Mustafa Varank, one of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s top political advisors, posting messages in solidarity with the protests for the memory of Berkin Elvan, a 15-year-old teenager who died March 11 after being in a coma for 269 days due to a head injury caused by a teargas canister during the Gezi protests in Istanbul.

Hackers changed Varank’s background picture to Elvan’s portrait, posting messages which referred to Erdoğan as Elvan’s “murderer.”

“We know who Elvan’s killer is,” read one of the messages, which also contained a picture of Erdoğan with the inscription “I gave the instructions to the police.”

Varank, one of the most active users of Twitter among Erdoğan’s advisers, recovered his account a few hours later. “After voyeurism, montage and blackmail, they have also started to steal accounts. I think I have succeeded to get my account back. I apologize to my followers,” Varank said via Twitter.

Before being hacked, Varank had posted several pictures from the southeastern cities of Bingöl and Bitlis, where Erdoğan held separate rallies.

Protests were staged across Turkey over Elvan’s death during a night reminiscent of the nationwide Gezi protests.