Well, the Spectator did, after all, call it the President Erdogan Offensive Poetry Contest. And everyone seems to agree that favoring
a celebrity's mediocre entry--after disingenuously inviting entries from the entire English-speaking world, as if all the rest of us lowly scribblers actually had a shot--was an offensive way to run a poetry contest. Indeed, it evokes the cronyism and abuse of public trust associated with President Erdogan. So I'd have to say it was truth in advertising.
(Announcing that rhymes on "Ankara" were deprecated, and then choosing a winner containing exactly that, was a particularly offensive touch, I thought. Inspired!)
Threaded Mode
