Twitter issued an apology after a “Mahvolursun Trump,” which roughly translates as “Die Trump,” trended on the platform in Turkey on Monday.
The Turkish phrase began to trend after Twitter users in the country reacted negatively to President Trump’s threat to “totally destroy and obliterate the economy of Turkey” if the country did anything “off-limits” following the announcement the United States are pulling the military from northern Syria.
….the captured ISIS fighters and families. The U.S. has done far more than anyone could have ever expected, including the capture of 100% of the ISIS Caliphate. It is time now for others in the region, some of great wealth, to protect their own territory. THE USA IS GREAT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2019
A Twitter spokesperson told the Washington Examiner, “This phrase should not have appeared in trends, and we’re sorry for this mistake. At times, we do prevent certain content from trending and we have done so with this trend.” The platform’s apology was first reported by Breitbart.
According to Twitter’s guidelines, phrases that are not permitted to trend include anything that has “profanity or adult/graphic references” or that incites “hate on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation age, disability or disease.” Anything that violates the platform’s broader rules also would not be approved to trend.
Late Sunday night, the Trump administration announced troops would be pulled from northern Syria, which is likely to harm the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in the area. The administration appeared to greenlight Turkey’s imminent offensive against America’s Kurdish allies in Syria with the removal. Turkey will now be responsible for all captured ISIS fighters currently being held by Kurdish forces.
[Opinion: The craziest part of that insane Trump tweet on Turkey is that it was intended to reassure people]
