Twitter scrambles over Turkey cyber-attacks amid ‘Nazi’ row

Dozens of high profile Twitter accounts were subject to cyber-attacks that included swastikas and threats amid a diplomatic spat between Turkey and some western European countries.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused a various mainland European countries, including Germany and Netherlands of “fascist actions” reminiscent of Nazi times after Turkish politicians were banned from speaking at events in the country.

Read more: Turkey targets Dutch with diplomatic sanctions as ‘Nazi’ row escalates

The diplomatic conflict took to new levels when hackers took hold of a number of Twitter accounts, to spread their message in support for Erdogan’s remarks. Even the accounts of  Starbucks Argentina were included.

Translation: Nazi Germany and Nazi Netherlands, expect an “Ottoman slap” on 16 April. What does this Tweet say? Start learning Turkish.

The same message was pasted on other, more political accounts like Amnesty International and the European Parliament.

Turkey is set to hold a referendum on 16 April which would allow for a constitutional overhaul giving Erdogan the ability to run for two more terms in office.

Hackers exploited an issue in #twittercounter tweeting #nazihollanda and #Nazialmanya pic.twitter.com/B5GeGWzPZq

— Pͥetͣeͫr Zuidˢeͬmͨaͬ (@[email protected]) (@srcr) March 15, 2017

Twitter users took to their profiles to post many polarising opinions on the hack that shook the social media website.

April 16, God willing,
،
the beginning of Turkey's best.🇹🇷

— ابوعزوز (@aboazooooz2030) March 14, 2017

https://twitter.com/Theawesomeasim/status/841690252016254976

Turkish citizens called out their western European counterparts for what they believed were double standards

You may be against Erdogan but this doesn't mean that you turn a blind eye on the rise of fascism in Europe.

— İlhami Işık (@dunya20101) March 15, 2017

Victims of the cyber-attacks, especially high profile organisations and individuals felt compelled to address the disruption in their accounts head on, while others kept calm and acted as though nothing had happened.

Good morning. We briefly lost control of this account earlier, but everything is now back to normal.

— European Parliament (@Europarl_EN) March 15, 2017

Hi everyone – we temporarily lost control of this account, but normal service has resumed. Thanks.

— BBC North America (@BBCNorthAmerica) March 15, 2017