A Turkish governor removed from office following a controversy over images of him cycling in sports tights has received the backing of thousands of people calling for his reinstatement.
Mehmet Fatih Çiçekli, governor of the northeastern province of Ardahan, was removed by a presidential decree dated July 17 after videos and photographs he shared of himself cycling sparked criticism on social media.
The decree gave no reason for his removal, although Turkish media widely linked it to the controversy over his cycling attire.
An online petition titled “Ardahan Governor Mehmet Fatih Çiçekli Should Remain in Office” had collected more than 8,300 signatures by Tuesday.
Çiçekli’s attire was also debated in parliament this month, where İnan Akgün Alp, a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), called for his removal.
Nacho Sánchez Amor, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, expressed solidarity with Çiçekli and accused the CHP lawmaker of “endorsing the Islamist conservative agenda.”
“A normal citizen wearing sport clothes when doing sport,” Sánchez Amor wrote on X. “Is this the CHP proposal for women?” He accompanied the post with historical photographs of women cycling in long skirts.
All my respect and solidarity with the Governor Mehmet Fatih Çiçekli. A normal citizen wearing sport clothes when doing sport. My astonishment because someone from CHP criticized the most normal thing endorsing the Islamist conservative agenda. Is this the CHP proposal for women? pic.twitter.com/XUyXmSgqyi
— Nacho Sánchez Amor (@NachoSAmor) July 18, 2026
Çiçekli defended the outfit as standard cycling gear.
“The clothes I’m wearing are sports clothes. I do sports in sports clothes,” he said.
Asked what he planned to do after his removal, Çiçekli said, “I will keep pedaling.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed Ömer Hilmi Yamlı, previously district governor of Şehitkamil in Gaziantep, to replace Çiçekli.
Turkish Minute, with reporting from Agence France-Presse