Turkiye blocks access to Instagram

Ankara (Turkiye), August 2 (ANI): Turkiye has blocked access to social media platform Instagram, according to a report in Al Jazeera, the country’s communications authority. The decision came after a senior government official criticized Instagram for “censoring” Hamas-related content.

The Communication Office posted an entry on its website in which it informed that “the instagram.com domain was blocked by decision of 02/08/2024”, but did not provide a reason.

On Wednesday, the country’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, accused the social media platform of blocking condolence posts following the death of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, Al Jazeera reported. Altun accused Israel of trying to drag the region into further unrest through assassinations and covert operations.

In a post on X, Altun stated: “I also strongly condemn the social media platform Instagram, which prevents people from posting condolences for Haniye’s martyrdom without giving a reason. This is a very clear and obvious attempt at censorship.” “We will continue to defend freedom of speech against these platforms, which have repeatedly shown that they serve the global system of exploitation and injustice. We will stand with our Palestinian brothers at every opportunity and on every platform. Palestine will be free sooner or later. Israel and its supporters will not be able to prevent this,” he added.

On July 31, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reported that Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an attack in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

In a statement, the IRGC said Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed when their home was hit in Tehran. The missile hit a residence allocated to war veterans in Tehran at 2 a.m. (local time) on Wednesday, according to Press TV.

In a statement to Mehr News Agency, the IRGC said: “With condolences to the heroic people of Palestine and the Islamic nation and the fighters of the Resistance Front and the noble nation of Iran, this morning (Wednesday) the residence of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement of Hamas, was hit in Tehran, and after the incident, he and one of his bodyguards were assassinated.” The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the killing of Ismail Haniyeh and extended its condolences to the Palestinian people.

It accused the Israeli government of not having any intention of achieving peace. It said that the attack was aimed at spreading the war in Gaza to the regional level. It also said that Turkiye would continue to support the “righteous cause” of the Palestinian people.

In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said: “The Netanyahu government’s lack of intention to achieve peace has been demonstrated once again. This attack is also aimed at spreading the war in Gaza to the regional level. If the international community does not act to stop Israel, our region will face an even bigger conflict.” (ANI)