Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday declared Friday, Aug 2, a day of national mourning over the killing of the head of Hamas' political bureau Ismail Haniyeh.
"In order to show our support for the Palestinian Cause and our solidarity with our Palestinian siblings, a day of national mourning was declared today (August 2 Friday) due to Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Ismail Haniyeh's martyrdom," he said on social media platform X.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday declared Friday, Aug 2, a day of national mourning over the killing of the head of Hamas' political bureau Ismail Haniyeh.
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Turkey's communications authority blocked access to the social media platform Instagram on Friday, the latest instance of a clampdown on websites in the country.
The Information and Communication Technologies Authority, which regulates the internet, announced the block early Friday but did not provide a reason.
Sabah newspaper, which is close to the government, said access was blocked in response to Instagram removing posts by Turkish users that expressed condolences over
the killlingof Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Unlike its Western allies, Turkey does not consider Hamas to be a terror organization. A strong critic of Israel's military actions in Gaza, Erdogan has
described the groupas "liberation fighters."
Turkey has a track record of censoring social media and websites. Hundreds of thousands of domains have been blocked since 2022, according to the Freedom of Expression Association, a non-profit organization regrouping lawyers and human rights activists. The video-sharing platform YouTube was blocked from 2007 to 2010.
The country is observing a day of mourning for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Friday, during which flags will be flown at half-staff. Turkey has a track record of censoring social media and websites
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