Turkey blocks Instagram access in “censorship” row after Hamas leader’s assassination

Ismail Haniyeh was a close ally of President Erdogan, and today flags in Turkey are being flown at half mast in a day of mourning for the Hamas leader

Haniyeh and Erodgan last met in Istanbul in April (Turkish Presidential Press Office)

Turkey’s internet regulator has blocked access to Instagram, with local reports suggesting it relates to the death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

It is the latest instance of social media clampdown in Turkey, which has a track record of shutting down websites having closed hundreds of thousands since 2022.

While the Information and Communication Technologies Authority did not give a reason behind its decision early on Friday, Turkish outlets say it is a response to Instagram’s handling of condolence messages towards Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas’ political wing, who was killed on Wednesday (July 31).

A procession mourning Haniyeh filled Tehran, as Turkey today flies its flags at half mast (The Associated Press)

The Ankara government had previously accused Instagram of blocking posts by Turkish users which expressed condolences regarding Haniyeh’s death.

On Wednesday, Turkey’s communications director Fahrettin Altun wrote on X that Instagram was "impeding people from publishing messages of condolence for the martyr Haniyeh”, adding that it was “censorship, pure and simple”.

Yeni Safak, a conservative and pro-Erdogan daily newspaper with close ties to the government, said this was behind the authority’s decision.

“Sanctions for Instagram’s blackout policy were swift. The Information Technologies and Communication Authority blocked access to Instagram,” the outlet wrote.

Instagram has been contacted comment.

Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a hidden explosive device in Tehran on Wednesday morning (AP)

Turkey does not consider Hamas a terror organisation, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously describing them as “liberation fighters”. The country has been strongly critical of Israel’s war in Gaza.

On Friday, all flags will be flown at half-mast as Turkey observes a day of mourning for Haniyeh, who was a close ally of Erdogan with whom he last met in April.

Haniyeh was killed in the early hours of Wednesday by a remotely-activated explosive device planted in his guest house, before he was due to attend the inauguration of newly-elected President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian.

Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul’s mayor and member of Turkey’s main opposition party said the communications authority was acting like a “censorship unit”.

He wrote on X: “Social media is a platform that everyone uses for many purposes, including for commerce and communicating. It is unacceptable that a platform used by the entire country is arbitrarily shut down one morning.”

Turkey blocked access to 953,415 websites, based on 821,285 different decisions made by 833 institutions and judicial authorities, according to the Freedom of Expression Association, a non-profit organisation.

Video-sharing platform YouTube was blocked between 2007 and 2010 and sued for “insulting Turkishness”.