Governor Çiftçi responds to son's 'flashing light vehicle' video: 'He made a mistake, we are being lynched'

Videos shared on social media by Tarık Çiftçi, son of Erzurum Governor Mustafa Çiftçi, featuring a vehicle with flashing lights and remarks directed at police, have caused public outrage. Following the backlash, Tarık Çiftçi deleted the videos, and Governor Mustafa Çiftçi released a statement on his social media accounts titled 'necessary explanation'.

In his statement, Governor Çiftçi noted that his son is 18 years old and argued that 'the content of my child's post is entirely fictional,' maintaining that the vehicle with flashing lights was not used in traffic and that the dialogue with the police in the video was not real.

'The vehicle with flashing lights was in the garage, the video is staged'

Governor Çiftçi stated that his son filmed the vehicle with flashing lights in the closed garage belonging to the Erzurum Governor's Office and added a humorous dialogue to the post along with a police emoji. In the video, Tarık Çiftçi appeared to be arguing with a police officer, saying, 'Let me see your authorization document. Let me take your badge number.' However, Çiftçi noted that this content did not reflect the truth and that no such incident occurred in traffic.

'Character assassination, I am sorry for my son's mistake'

Çiftçi expressed that the incident was blown out of proportion and turned into a lynching campaign against him and his family. 'It is malicious to turn this incident into an attack against our government and our Minister of Interior, citing my participation in events related to İskilipli Atıf Hoca during my time as Governor of Çorum,' said Çiftçi, arguing that they were victims of character assassination.

'I do not allow public vehicles to be used for purposes other than their intended use'

Stating that he has been meticulous in the use of public resources in all the places he has served, Mustafa Çiftçi said, 'I often walked to work instead of using an official vehicle. I expect the same sensitivity from my child.' He added that he would not allow public vehicles to be used for purposes other than their intended use, even by his own son, and that pressuring public officials is unacceptable.

“Those who defend stray animals are lynching a young man”

In his statement, Governor Çiftçi reacted to the criticism with the following remarks:

“I leave it to the discretion of our noble nation why this aggressive and insolent mob, which appears to defend the rights of even stray animals, withholds the same sensitivity from a young man who has made a mistake.”

“We will exercise our legal rights”

Announcing that they will take legal action against the insults directed at him and his family due to his son Tarık Çiftçi's videos, Çiftçi stated the following:

“In accordance with the principle that ‘to err is human,’ it is understandable and reasonable for people to criticize me and my family due to an erroneous post made by my son; however, going beyond that, resorting to insults, and using vulgar language creates legal liability.”