Fuat Avni

Fuat Avni was an anonymous Twitter phenomenon, mostly known for tweets and leaks concerning the Justice and Development Party. The account tweeted its first tweet on 18 February 2014, and as of March 2021 it had 2.0 million followers.

Claims on its identity As of May 2016, it is unknown who they are. Different people have occasionally claimed to be them, however none of these claims were proven.

On 20 July 2016, computer engineer Akif Mustafa Koçyiğit was arrested in İstanbul with other 9 engineers within the scope of 2016 purges following the coup d'état attempt. They were charged for providing information to Fuat Avni. On 24 July, Muhammed Sait Kuloğlu and Yetkin Yıldız were also arrested.

Contents of its claims It claimed to provide information from undisclosed government talks concerning the 2013 corruption scandal, irregularities during elections, secret operations with the government and Cemaat. The account generally referred to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as "BB" (Turkish for PM), "Tiran" (tyrant), "Başçalan" (a pun on PM, meaning Prime Thief), "Yezid" (Yazid I, the second Umayyad Caliph, known as a tyrant by some scholars), "Faşist" (fascist) or Narsist (narcissist). They used Bediüzzaman's iconic "Korkma, titre" phrase ("Don't be afraid, shiver") occasionally.

Important claims Some of their claims had been realized a few days or week later.

Claim date Claims Tweet State8 September 2015Seizing of Kaynak Holding On 18 November 2015 Kaynak Holding was seized.28 August 2015Seizing of İpek Holding and operations against Doğan Holding On 27–28 October 2015 Koza İpek Holding was seized.24 July 2015Operations on education facilities claimed to have close ties with the Gülen movement Occurred. 19 April 2016 Replacing Davutoğlu with Yıldırım as Prime Minister On 5 May 2016, PM Davutoğlu announced his retirement as Prime Minister. Yıldırım became PM on 24 May 2016. 17 July 2016 2016 coup d'état is a self-coup planned by Erdoğan The claim was made after the failed coup.

Accounts Due to legal actions, the account name has changed twice. Date Account 18 February 2014 – 5 August 2014 (active) @fuatavni 5 August 2014 – 21 January 2015 @fuatavnifuat 21 January 2015–today (active) @fuatavni_f