Miss Turkey Itır Esen decrowned hours after triumph due to tweet about last year’s coup attempt

ISTANBUL

The winner of Miss Turkey 2017 was decrowned on Sept. 22 just hours after winning the beauty pageant, after a tweet she posted about the July 15, 2016 coup attempt came to light.

“We regret to inform that such a tweet has been posted by Itır Esen. It is not possible for the Miss Turkey Organization to promote such a post, when it aims to introduce Turkey to the world and contribute to its image,” the statement said.   

Esen has not yet responded but has reportedly removed all photos taken during the pageant from her social media accounts.

Following the decrowning, Aslı Sümen, who was the runner-up of this year's Miss Turkey pageant, automatically gained the right to participate in the Miss World pageant, which will be held in China this year.