Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally sent his first tweet on Feb. 9, giving an anti-smoking message, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
The now-verified account, @RT_Erdogan, was originally opened in August 2009, and amassed over 5.7 million followers, mostly by sharing phrases from Erdogan's public speeches with no additional comments.
Although he never clarified who was managing this account, Erdogan has voiced his displeasure with Twitter on several occasions in the past. During the Gezi Park protests of June 2013, he described the microblogging website as a "menace," while in March 2014 Turkey blocked Twitter, hours after then-Prime Minister Erdogan vowed to "wipe out" the social media platform.
However, this has not kept the president from finally taking control of his account.
"Today is Feb. 9, World Quit Smoking Day. Be strong-willed and do not surrender to a cigarette," Erdogan tweeted, after sharing a number of statistics about smoking-related deaths.
Although public institutions and some NGOs in Turkey recognize Feb. 9 as "World Quit Smoking Day," May 31 is the internationally-recognized date of "World No Tobacco Day."
President Erdogan also retweeted a message posted by Yeşilay (Green Crescent), a Turkish public charity that fights with bad habits, including smoking. Esra Albayrak, Erdogan's daughter, was appointed to the board of Yeşilay in 2012.
Mucahit Kuçukyılmaz, the Corporate Relations Chairman of the Presidency, told semi-official Anadolu Agency on Feb. 9 that messages personally sent by Erdogan would be signed "RTE" (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) at the end.
"It was an account that has been used by young people who love the Beyefendi [gentleman]. Its verification process has now been completed. From now on, the Beyefendi will use it," Kucukyılmaz added.