Cycling politician sacked after posting tight lycra videos online – ‘too snug’ | World | News
The cycling-mad politician was sacked after images of him in tight lycra went viral on social media.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dismissed the Governor of Ardahan in the east of the country. Mehmet Fatih Çiçekli lost his job earlier this week.
Çiçekli frequently shares videos of his bicycle rides on Instagram from time to time to promote the Ardahan Bicycle Festival. He also held his ‘farewell’ ceremony at the Governor’s Office on Wednesday, July 22, by bicycle.
No official reason for his dismissal was given, but Erdogan and other members of Çiçekli’s conservative Justice and Development Party reacted harshly to his clothing choices.
Politician Şamil Tayyar, in his post to X: “Can there really be a governor in tights?
“Governors represent the state, they are the border chiefs of the president in the province and they are obliged to act in a manner befitting this representation.
“A governor in tights is not taken seriously by the citizens and the public personnel he manages and cannot establish state authority.”
In a series of X posts, he added: “The main problem is that those in positions of representation and authority in the state do not comply with written and customary rules while performing their duties.
“He’s not just cycling there, he’s also making a public visit. None of his companions are wearing tights.”
“Anybody can wear whatever he wants in his private life, but a governor cannot make a public visit wearing tights while on duty, this is incompatible with the seriousness of the state. Such a thing does not happen in traditional social structures like the one in Ardahan.
“Even private companies do not allow this, they do not allow visiting customers in tights.”
Ardahan is a rural province on Türkiye’s border with Georgia, where only 92,000 people live.
Çiçekli, who was appointed governor in January, defended himself by stating that he was wearing normal ‘sports clothes’. He told T24: “I am an athlete who does sailing, rowing and cycling. I wear sports clothes.”
Giving an emotional farewell speech to his supporters in Ardahan on Wednesday, Çiçekli said: “I believe that I have not let down those who have vouched for me and stood by me until today. I believe this is the greatest honor.”
