Turkish Twitter star shot dead in his car
ISTANBUL
Ferdi Özmen, 30, had made a name for himself for his tweets in praise of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
A 30-year-old man who attracted more than 27,000 followers on Twitter as an ardent supporter of Kemalism has been shot dead, triggering a social media debate about the motive of the killer.An unidentified assailant forced Ferdi Özmen to leave his car in Istanbul’s neighborhood of Sarıyer on Oct. 23 and shot him with a pistol. Özmen, who was returning home after a dinner with his uncle, died in the hospital.
Several social media users have claimed that the murder could be politically motivated, sharing tweets posted by a number of Twitter users that threatened Özmen. Other users have speculated that the murder was the result of a “private vendetta."
Police have launched an investigation into the killing.
