Turkey Restores Access to Instagram After Week-Long Ban
Turkey has lifted its nationwide ban on Instagram, restoring access to the social media platform after a week-long block, the Associated Press reports.
The Information and Communication Technologies Authority had barred access to Instagram on August 2, arguing that the move was linked to the platform’s alleged failure to comply with Turkish laws.
“In our talks with Instagram officials, we were assured our requests would be met, especially those regarding criminal activity, and given a promise that we would work together on a means of censoring users,” Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Turkey’s transportation and infrastructure minister, wrote on the social media platform X.
Uraloglu elaborated in a video also posted on X, saying that the platform “was to establish compliance with Turkish law and that in instances where the law was violated, there would be quick and effective intervention.”
The Turkish government will ban all accounts belonging to “terrorist” organizations and remove content promoting them from Instagram, Uraloglu has added. This move specifically targets the PKK, PYD, and FETO.
The PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) is a Kurdish group deemed a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union. It has been engaged in a decades-long insurgency within Turkey, seeking an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey.
The PYD (People’s Protection Units) is a Syrian Kurdish political organization that Turkey claims is a branch of the PKK.
FETO, led by Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is accused by the Turkish government of orchestrating the 2016 coup attempt.
