ESCALATION

Pro-Turkey Twitter Hack Hits Global Accounts

Including accounts of Forbes, BBC, Justin Bieber, and Atlanta PD.

Pro-Turkey hackers have hijacked major Twitter accounts around the world in what appears to be an escalation in the Erdoğan government’s feud with Germany and the Netherlands. Dutch voters head to the polls Wednesday to choose new leadership—pitting Liberal Prime Minister Mark Rutte against anti-Islam challenger/provocateur Geert Wilders. Many of the hacked Twitter accounts’ hashtags, in Turkish, read “NaziGermany” and “NaziHolland.” Targets everywhere fell victim to the hacks, including Forbes magazine, BBC North America, Reuters Japan, members of the European Parliament, the Atlanta Police Department, French politician Alain Juppé, and many others. The accounts were often branded with the Turkish flag and with positive messages about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.