Turkey plans to negotiate Twitter’s blue check charge with Elon Musk

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he may speak with Twitter's new boss Elon Musk to avoid Turkish users paying the monthly charge for the blue checkmark badge.

Musk who has recently purchased the social media platform, said on Tuesday that the company will charge $8 per month to Twitter users who would like to have a blue checkmark badge by their usernames that indicates a verified account.

"It might be different for us," Erdogan said during an interview with Turkish broadcaster ATV on Wednesday, in response to a question regarding Musk’s announcement, Reuters reported.

"We could carry out some diplomacy with him as well," he added jokingly, it said.

The blue badge next to the username is currently free and normally used for high-profile figures, including state officials.

More than 80 percent of Twitter users who took part in a poll regarding the check mark said they would not pay a monthly fee for it, according to Reuters. Some 10 percent said they were willing to pay $5 a month, it added. 

Musk, the world’s richest man, closed a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter on Nov.27. Following the purchase, he has fired Twitter’s top executives, becoming the sole director of the platform.