The Turkish communications watchdog BTK said it blocked access to the online platform Instagram on Friday in a short statement posted on its website.
The authority didn’t provide specific reasons for its decision dated today but it came after the Turkish presidency’s communications director Fahrettin Altun on Wednesday called out the Meta-owned social media for “impeding people from posting messages of condolence for Haniyeh’s martyrdom without any justification.”
Ismail Haniyeh, one of Hamas’ senior leaders who was leading cease-fire negotiations on the part of the militant group, was assassinated in Tehran on that day.
“This is a very clear and obvious attempt at censure,” Altun said on social media platform X, pledging to “continue to defend freedom of expression against these platforms, which have repeatedly demonstrated that they serve the global system of exploitation and injustice.”
Instagram’s parent company Meta wasn’t immediately available for a comment.
