Career
Currently, he is a student of physical education and sports at the Aksaray University and a figure of controversy and criticism in Turkey due to his overtly racist and nationalist statements and his propaganda for the Justice and Development Party. He was the flag bearer of Turkey at the opening ceremony of the 2013 Mediterranean Games held on June 20 in Mersin. Kayaalp was given an immediate suspension of six months by the FILA judge for racist remarks against Armenians and Greeks in August 2013, notably missing the 2013 Wrestling World Championships.
He had targeted Greeks and Armenians in his tweets posted about the Gezi Park protests, advocating that “Armenians” were at the root of the Gezi protests in a series of tweets he later deleted after a reaction from the media.
His tweets included: “You just leave the streets to Armenians, you f**ing looters” and “F**k you traitors”. FILA President Nenad Lalovic stated that he was shocked by Kayaalp"s behavior.
Yerlikaya appealed the ban to FILA and vowed to take the issue to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if it was not successful. He claimed the statements were not racist and that Kayaalp was not the one who had written the tweets.
However, Kayaalp stated in an interview that he was “misunderstood”, thereby admitting that the tweets were in fact written by him.
FILA later agreed to delay the suspension so that Kayaalp could compete at the 2013 World Wrestling Championships, after which time no major tournaments will take place in six months.