Murat Aktihanoglu

Murat Aktihanoglu
NationalityAmerican
Alma materBilkent University
OccupationVenture Capitalist
EmployerManaging Partner at Entrepreneur's Roundtable Accelerator
Known forGezi Protests

Murat Aktihanoglu is an American venture capitalist[1] who is notable for helping create the fastest political crowdfunding campaign[2] in history[3] for Turkish Gezi Protests. Aktihanoglu helped create a crowdsourced and crowdfunded advertisement in the New York Times with Oltac Unsal and Duygu Atacan.[4] It was the fastest political crowdfunding campaign in history. The ad featured demands for "an end to police brutality"; "a free and unbiased media"; and "an open dialogue, not the dictate of an autocrat." The editing of the final advertisement involved thousands of people, and the ad was published on 7 June 2013.

Despite its financing by 2,654 online funders, Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan and his administration blamed a domestic and foreign "interest rate lobby" and The New York Times for the ad.[5]

New York Times Ad "What's Happening in Turkey"
  1. ^ "Murat Aktihanoglu". Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  2. ^ "Full Page Ad for Turkish Democracy in Action". Indiegogo. June 9, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  3. ^ Konrad, Alex (July 4, 2013). "Full-Page Ad Inspired By Turkish Protests Is One Of Indiegogo's Fastest Campaigns Ever". Forbes. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  4. ^ Jalabi, Raya (June 5, 2013). "Turkish trio who took out New York Times ad: 'It's really not about us'". The Guardian. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  5. ^ 2013–14 protests in Turkey#Advertising and petition