Turkish Twitter star shot dead in his car

ISTANBUL

Ferdi Özmen, 30, had made a name for himself for his tweets in praise of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

A 30-year-old man who attracted more than 27,000 followers on Twitter as an ardent supporter of Kemalism has been shot dead, triggering a social media debate about the motive of the killer.

An unidentified assailant forced Ferdi Özmen to leave his car in Istanbul’s neighborhood of Sarıyer on Oct. 23 and shot him with a pistol. Özmen, who was returning home after a dinner with his uncle, died in the hospital.

Several social media users have claimed that the murder could be politically motivated, sharing tweets posted by a number of Twitter users that threatened Özmen. Other users have speculated that the murder was the result of a “private vendetta."

Police have launched an investigation into the killing.