Merve Büyüksaraç

Merve Büyüksaraç (born 13 June 1988) is a model, TV personality and beauty pageant titleholder who won the Miss Turkey 2006. She is also an industrial designer by profession, a fine-arts artist and an entrepreneur. In 2016, Büyüksaraç has been put in trial in Turkey on the charge of insulting the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[1][2]

Merve Büyüksaraç
Born (1988-06-13) 13 June 1988
Ankara, Turkey
EducationTED Ankara College Foundation Schools
Yeditepe University
OccupationModel
Years active2006–present

Biography

Büyüksaraç was crowned Miss Turkey in 2006 and works as a model.[3]

Büyüksaraç allegedly posted a satirical poem on Instagram in 2014 which was then shared thousands of times on social media, and prosecutors found the poem to be insulting.[1] The trial in the city of Istanbul began in May 2016 and was decided at the end of the month.[4] Her sentence was suspended on condition that she does not "reoffend" within the next five years.[1] Her lawyers are appealing the verdict.[1] Groups that support free speech have criticized the decision.[1] According to a report in the BBC, 2000 people have been prosecuted for insulting Erdogan since 2014, and the list of persons charged includes children as well as celebrities.[1] Büyüksarac reposted "The Master's Poem" in 2014 not for the purpose of insulting the president, she said, but because "it was funny".[3] In June 2016, it was reported that she was delivered with a verdict of a suspended sentence of fourteen months imprisonment.[5]

References
  1. "Ex-Miss Turkey sentenced for insulting Erdogan". BBC. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016. ...Merve Buyuksarac, 27, was found guilty of insulting a public official for postings she made on social media. She denied insulting Mr Erdogan....
  2. "Ex-Miss Turkey sentenced 'for insulting Erdogan'". France 24. 31 May 2016. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016. ...The Istanbul court sentenced model Merve Buyuksarac, 27, to one year and two months in prison ...
  3. J. WESTON PHIPPEN (31 May 2016). "A former Miss Turkey's Punishment for reposting a Poem to Instagram: A court in Turkey sentenced Merve Büyüksarac to a 14-month suspended prison sentence for insulting the president". The Atlantic. Retrieved 1 June 2016. ...Büyüksarac was crowned Miss Turkey in 2006,....27-year-old (calculator: 2016 – 27 = 1989 likely year of birth) ... reposting a poem ... "The Master's Poem" ... referenced a high-level corruption case.... "I shared it because I found it funny"...
  4. Agence France-Presse in Ankara (16 June 2015). "Turkish newspaper editor sentenced for insulting president Recep Erdoğan: Ankara court hands down 21-month suspended jail sentence to editor of English-language newspaper after convicting him of insulting the president in a tweet". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 May 2016. ...In another case that has garnered huge attention, model and former Miss Turkey beauty queen Merve Buyuksarac went on trial in May on charges of insulting Erdoğan....
  5. "Former Miss Turkey sentenced for insulting President Erdogan". Time. June 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2020.


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