Turkey: Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek's tweets against Marie Harf stir controversy

The mayor of Ankara, Melih Gökçek, launched a diatribe on Wednesday over the Baltimore riots at the US State Department spokeswoman, Marie Harf.

"Come on blonde, answer now!" Gökçek wrote in English as well as Turkish on his Twitter account, sharing an image from the riots in Baltimore with a picture of US State Department acting spokeswoman Marie Harf.

Another tweet of the Mayor included an image of Jen Psaki, a former State Department spokesperson, but it appeared to be addressed to Marie Harf.

SARIŞIN KIZ,BİZ DE GEZİ OLAYLARI OLURKEN,HÜKÜMETİN TAVIRLARI ENDİŞE VERİCİYDİ.SİZDE OLUNCA SOKAĞA ÇIKMA YASAĞI NORMAL pic.twitter.com/7EznPHzSd5

— İbrahim Melih Gökçek (@06melihgokcek) April 28, 2015

Gökçek, accusing the U.S. government and international media outlets of double standards, tried to point out what he regards as the hypocrisy shown by the U.S. government and media, which had criticized Turkey's response to the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul during 2013. The U.S. government is "now silent" in the face of the Baltimore riots, according to Gökçek.

But, Gökçek took a more personal approach, by directing his tweets to Marie Harf, whom he labeled as the "blonde", and sharing these tweets with his 2.58 million followers.

Harf refused to respond to Gökçek's tweets, saying: "I really don't think I'm going to dignify them with a response."



Gökçek, who has been mayor of Ankara since 1994, is one of the most controversial members of Turkish politics. He has been recently criticized for erecting a massive statue of a "Transformers" style robot in the centre of the capital Ankara to promote a new theme park.

Gökçek is often a popular topic of magazine debate amongst the Turkish public, which is curious about what his next Twitter move will be. The mayor is quite a Twitter phenomenon, who doesn't refrain from bold and mocking statements, to the point where he is sometimes criticized for stepping beyond the line.

Harf is the person to whom journalists raise the most crucial questions regarding the U.S.'s position or views on international issues. For international eyes, any word that Harf uses is the official view of the U.S. on any matter and thus, at times she is accused of not being clear in her answers, which analysts say is because of the critical position that she holds.

Up until very recently, Harf opted to use her Twitter account for sharing her diplomatic work and stayed away from sharing personal views, but when she openly criticized Fox News host Bill O'Reilly on her Twitter account, she received mixed reactions from fellow Americans.

However, for Turks, she is rather a media icon or a celebrity figure who very frequently gives opinions on most of the developments in Turkey. Thanks to some Turkish journalists in Washington, Harf gets the opportunity to provide views on the questions that are asked in a certain angle that puts the two NATO allies at odds most of the time.

Her frequent comments on Turkey has led to a certain popularity among Turkish Twitter users. A good portion of her 35,100 Twitter followers are Turks, many of whom put her diplomatic position aside and ask her random questions. "Could we have a coffee together?" one asked, while another user said, "Marie is like a member of our family now."

After commenting on many issues related to Turkey, Turks are now wondering whether Harf is going to start responding to Twitter users' comments and questions, or whether she is going to hold a separate session for questions on Turkey at the U.S. State Department's press conferences.