Quick Take:
- Turkey’s Democracy and Progress Party (Turkish: Demokrasi ve Atılım Partisi, DEVA) has bought a plot of land in the metaverse.
- Deva Party Deputy Chairman Burak Dalgın said the party will hold its meetings in the metaverse after opening new headquarters in the virtual world.
- He also shares the image of the party Chairman Ali Babacan in the metaverse.
Turkey’s DEVA Party has become the first political party in the country to join the explosive virtual world known as the metaverse. Democracy and Progress Party (Turkish: Demokrasi ve Atılım Partisi, DEVA) announced on Thursday through its deputy chairman’s Twitter account Burak Dalgın that it had bought a plot of land in the metaverse.
Announcing the decision to purchase digital land, Dalgın said, “for the first time in Turkey, a political party is [in the] Metaverse. The Deva of the Metaverse is ready.”
The metaverse-based headquarters will mirror the party’s real headquarters in Mustafa Kemal District, Ankara. He said that meetings will be starting soon, adding, “They can’t even keep up with our dreams, congratulations.”
DEVA Party was founded on March 9, 2020, under the leadership of Ali Babacan, a former economic/finance minister under the AKP. Babacan has been Chairman since its inception. Dalgın also posted an avatar of Babacan hosting a virtual meeting in the metaverse, illustrating how the meetings might look like in the virtual headquarters.
According to the report by the local online magazine Gazete Duvar, 20,000 plots of land have been sold in the virtual universe in Turkey, with Istanbul dominating digital land sales. The pricing of the plots depends on the location, with prices ranging between 135-500 Turkish Lira, approximately ($9.84-$36.44). However, DEVA opted to establish its virtual headquarters in Ankara, where its physical headquarters are located.
DEVA’s decision to acquire a plot in the metaverse comes despite President Erdogan’s anti-crypto stance. Erdogan has vowed to take actions that will strengthen the lira and bolster Turkey’s struggling economy.
In April, the Central Bank of Turkey said it was banning the use of cryptocurrencies for payments but people can still legally hold crypto in the country. Last month, Erdogan revealed that the crypto law was ready for debate in Parliament.
This is not the first time a political party has made a move to embrace cryptocurrencies amid strict domestic regulations. Last week, South Korea’s ruling party announced an NFT drop for those that will donate to the campaign for the upcoming presidential election.
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