Ousted Miss Turkey faces ‘up to one year jail’ over tweet
Itir Esen won the pageant in September but had her crown taken away because of what organisers said was an “unacceptable tweet” about the July 15, 2016 coup attempt
The winner of Turkey’s national beauty pageant, who was forced to hand back her crown over a contentious tweet, is facing up to one year in jail on charges of “publicly denigrating” elements in Turkish society, a report said on Thursday.
Itir Esen, 18, won Miss Turkey 2017 in September but then had her crown taken away because of what organisers said an “unacceptable tweet” she sent around the first anniversary of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
As a result, she missed the chance to represent Turkey in the Miss World competition in China and prosecutors also opened a criminal probe against her.
In the tweet, she compared the blood shed in her menstrual cycle with that of the 249 people who lost their lives during the failed coup and are now celebrated in Turkey as martyrs.
“I am having my period this morning to celebrate the July 15 martyrs’ day. I am celebrating the day by bleeding on behalf of our martyrs’ blood,” she wrote.