- Turkey restricts Instagram access
- Ban follows deleted condolences posts
- Turkey doesn’t classify Hamas as terrorist
The restriction on access to the social media giant comes after accusations. Instagram had erased posts from Turkish users expressing their condolences on the death of Hamas‘ Ismail Haniyeh.
Instagram access was prohibited in Turkey on Friday as part of the country’s ongoing crackdown on websites.
According to reports, the access restriction was imposed in retaliation to Instagram removing posts from Turkish users expressing condolences over the death of Hamas senior leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The Information and Communication Technologies Authority, which governs the internet in Turkey, announced the restriction without explaining.
It comes just a few days after an advisor to Turkey’s president criticized the Meta-owned social networking platform for blocking Turkish users from writing messages of condolence for Haniyeh.
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There has yet to be a quick response from Instagram, which has over 50 million users in Turkey, a country with a population of 85 million.
Unlike its Western friends, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a vocal critic of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, has referred to the organization as “liberation fighters.
Turkey is holding a day of mourning for Haniyeh on Friday, with flags flying at half-mast.
The deaths of Hamas leader Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr have heightened tensions in the Middle East, while the war in Gaza continues to kill thousands.
Turkey has a history of restricting social media and websites. The Freedom of Expression Association, a non-profit group, reports that hundreds of thousands of domains have been blocked since 2022.
YouTube, the video-sharing network, was similarly restricted in the country between 2007 and 2010.
