Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sacked the governor of Ardahan, a province in the east of the country, after images of his tight lycra went viral on social media. Mehmet Fatih Cicekli lost his job earlier this week.
Criticism from party colleagues
No official reason for his dismissal has been given, but other members of Erdoğan and Cicekli’s conservative Justice and Development Party hit out at his clothing choices. Politician Şamil Tayyar posted to X: “Can there really be a governor in tights? Governors represent the state; they are the president's frontier lords in the province. They are obligated to behave in a manner befitting that representation. A governor in tights wouldn't be taken seriously by citizens or the public personnel he manages, and he couldn't establish state authority.”
In a series of X posts, he added: “The fundamental problem is that those in positions of representation and authority establishment in the state do not adhere to written and customary rules in the performance of their duties. There, he's not just riding a bike; he's conducting a public visit. None of the people with him are wearing leggings. Let anyone wear whatever they want in their private life, but a governor cannot make a public visit in leggings while on duty; it is incompatible with the seriousness of the state. In traditional societal structures like those in Ardahan, it simply doesn't happen. Even private companies wouldn't allow this; they wouldn't let someone visit customers in leggings.”
Cicekli defends his attire
Cicekli, who was only appointed as governor in January, defended himself by pointing out he was wearing regular ‘sportswear’. He told T24: “I am an athlete who practices sailing, rowing and cycling. The clothes I’m wearing are sportswear.”
Ardahan is a rural province on Turkey’s border with Georgia, home to just 92,000 people. Cicekli frequently posts videos of his bike rides on Instagram, occasionally to promote the Ardahan Cycling Festival. He also took to the bike to announce his ‘farewell’ at the Governor’s Office on Wednesday (July 22). In an emotional farewell to his supporters in Ardahan, Cicekli said: “I believe that I have not let down those who vouched for me and stood by me throughout my journey until now. I believe that this is the greatest honor of all.”
