Cutting Short His Live Program With İmamoğlu, Ahmet Hakan Criticized on Social Media

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Ekrem İmamoğlu, whose certificate of election has been revoked after the Supreme Election Council (YSK) has annulled the İstanbul Metropolitan Mayoral elections, was a guest at the "Tarafsız Bölge" (Neutral Zone) live program by Ahmet Hakan on CNN Türk yesterday (May 20).

Though it was previously announced that the program would take place from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., Hakan cut the program short by half an hour.

At the moment when Ahmet Hakan said, "Your time is up", Ekrem İmamoğlu was talking about the extravagances that were detected while he was in office as the İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor for 18 days. Some examples expressed by İmamoğlu were as follows:

"In three years, 80 million Turkish Lira was spent on only the website. In the last six years, a directorate spent 226 million Turkish Lira on projects that were only at the idea stage and were not put into practice. The annual loss detected by the Supreme Court of Accounts is 753 million Turkish Lira. The annual redundant vehicle expense is 120 million."

Hakan criticized on social media

The incident has been criticized by several social media users:

Programın adı “tarafsız bölge” olmamış yalnız! “Sahibinin sesi” daha mantıklı olurdu. @ahmethc

— Atilla Taş (@AtillaTasNet) 20 Mayıs 2019

Singer and journalist Atilla Taş has written on Twitter:

"The name 'neutral zone' does not really suit this program! 'The voice of its owner' would make more sense."

Gerçekten televizyon haberciliği adına büyük utanç yaşandı bu akşam #cnnturk #tarafsızbölge de. Ahmet Hakan kurumda yerini sağlamlaştırmak heyecanı ile #gazetecilik ilkelerini ayaklar altına aldı! İlkesizliği sayesinde hem meslek etiği zedelendi hem de kendi markası sıfırlandı! pic.twitter.com/a5NZjzWTU6

— SEVİLAY YILMAN (@sevilayyaziyor) 20 Mayıs 2019

Posting a message on Twitter, journalist Sevilay Yılman has also said,

"Tonight, a great shame occurred in the name of television journalism at CNN Turk, Neutral Zone. In the excitement of securing his position at the institution, Ahmet Hakan trampled on the principles of journalism! Thanks to his unprincipled attitude, both the professional ethics have come to harm and his own brand has been reset."

Ekrem İmamoğlu, dün gece CNN Türk’te israfı açıklamaya başlamıştı ki Ahmet Hakan #SüreBitti diye tutturdu. Omurgasızlığın, korkaklığın, gazetecilik adına büyük bir utancın yaşandığı geceye tanıklık ettik. Hiç ‘tarafsız’ değildi, sayın İmamoğlu, bu çirkin maskesini alaşağı etti. pic.twitter.com/cFqAhnRP30

— FERHAT TUNÇ (@ferhatttunc) 21 Mayıs 2019

Musician Ferhat Tunç has stated the following on Twitter: "Last night, just as Ekrem İmamoğlu started announcing the extravagances at CNN Türk, Ahmet Hakan insisted on saying, 'Time is up.' We witnessed a night with spinelessness, cowardice and a great shame in the name of journalism. He was not 'neutral' at all, Dear İmamoğlu brought this ugly mask of his down."

Former AKP MP Kuzu congratulated Hakan

Former ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP and Constitution Commission Chair Burhan Kuzu has referred to Ahmet Hakan as "a local, national, brave, free, independent and impartial journalist as described by our President" and said, "I congratulate Ahmet Hakan:"

Ahmet Hakan'ı tebrik ediyorum. Cumhurbaşkanımızın da tarif ettiği, özlediğimiz yerli, milli, cesur, özgür, bağımsız ve tarafsız gazeteci. Sorduğu sorular ile İmamoğlu'nun maskesinin bir kısmını düşürdü, geri kalanını da 23 Haziran'da millet düşürecek. Daha güzel olacak inşallah.

— Prof Dr Burhan Kuzu (@BurhanKuzu) 20 Mayıs 2019

(EKN/SD)