Turkish authorities are investigating at least 177 social media users due to their posts about the late Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, labeled as a “terrorist” by the Turkish government, while 200 social media users, mostly journalists, had their X accounts blocked on Monday for unknown reasons, Turkish Minute reported.
According to Fatma Zibak’s story, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on X on Tuesday that the cybercrime department of the Turkish National Police has identified and is investigating 177 social media users who have allegedly spread propaganda for “Fetö” or shared posts praising Gülen or his movement following the cleric’s death at a US hospital on Sunday evening.
Fetö is a term coined by the Turkish government to refer to the faith-based Gülen movement, inspired by Gülen’s views, as a terrorist organization.
Over the past decade Gülen and his movement, which in the past had been praised by the Turkish government for their activities in education and interreligious and intercultural dialogue, have faced various accusations from the government, including masterminding corruption investigations in 2013 and a coup attempt in July 2016.
The Turkish government labeled Gülen and his movement as “terrorists” in May 2016.
Gülen and his followers have strongly denied any involvement in the coup or any terrorist activities but have been the subject of a harsh crackdown for a decade, which intensified in the aftermath of the abortive putsch.
X blocks journalists’ accounts in Turkey
Although the minister did not reveal the list of the social media users who are being investigated due to their messages about Gülen, his announcement came on the same day that some 200 Turks, mostly journalists, and a number of news outlets found their X accounts blocked in Turkey.
Some of these outlets and people were journalists in exile, known for their critical reporting on the Turkish government, such as Cevheri Güven, Sevinç Özarslan, Adem Yavuz Arslan and Emre Uslu; the Bold Medya news website, established by journalists in exile; journalist Amberin Zaman; former national footballer Hakan Şükür; and the news website of the Islamist Yeni Asya newspaper.
Some of these accounts have posted messages of condolence for Gülen or praise of his movement following the cleric’s death, but others did not.
Güven and Özarslan, who both had to flee Turkey to avoid government persecution in the aftermath of the coup attempt, told Turkish Minute that they had received letters from X on Tuesday informing them about the blocking of their accounts in Turkey in line with a decision from an Ankara court and based on a request from the Turkish Telecommunications Authority (BTK).
The journalists said unlike previous notifications when they were informed of court decisions related to their X accounts, there were no details about the court rulings as to why their accounts were being blocked.
“As far as I can see, they blocked [the accounts of] everyone who used the term ‘Fetö’ or did not swear [at Gülen] over his death,” Güven said.
The journalist announced the cleric’s death on his X account on Monday without making any negative or positive comments about him.
This was the second time that Güven has had his account blocked in Turkey, which prompted him to question X owner Elon Musk’s commitment to free speech.
The journalist asked Musk about the reason for his desire to comply with the requests of “oppressive regimes” in blocking the accounts of journalists while he keeps talking about the importance of free speech.
Güven’s X account was blocked one day before the May 14, 2023 general election in Turkey, in a move seen as aimed at impacting the election outcome in favor of Erdoğan, who was seeking re-election.
Meanwhile, Ebubekir Şahin, president of Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), said on Monday media outlets’ broadcasts about Gülen are being closely followed, warning that they could face sanctions if they praise the late cleric.
“No outlet can air broadcasts that praise terrorism or terrorists,” he said.
In line with Şahin’s comments, journalist Aysın Komithan in western Turkey was detained later on Monday and subsequently fired from her job after she expressed condolences for Gülen during a live broadcast. The development raised more concerns about the increasing censorship in Turkey in the wake of Gülen’s death.
The blocking of journalist Zaman’s X account, however, does not seem to be related to any posts about Gülen.
Zaman said on X that her account was blocked in Turkey for sharing a photo she took in Athens in October 2022 of graffiti that read “Rise up for Rojova.” She said she found the graffiti interesting, thinking that there were people there who knew about Rojova, the name used for the Kurdish parts of Syria.
The Turkish military clashes with the Kurdish groups, which it accuses of terrorism, in this area from time to time.
She asked Musk and X what was criminal about her post, whether it incites violence, includes hate speech or is an act of sexual harassment that would require her account to be blocked in Turkey.
Poor record in online freedoms
The rampant online censorship in Turkey makes its way into the reports of international organizations as well.
According to a report from the Washington-based Freedom House last week, Turkey, where authorities frequently censor online content and harass individuals for their social media posts, has been ranked the lowest-scoring country in Europe for online freedoms,
Turkey has a score of 31 in a 100-point index, with scores based on a scale of 0 (least free) to 100 (most free). The other two lowest-scoring countries in Europe are Hungary with a score of 69 and Serbia with 70, according to the “Freedom on the Net 2024” report.
Turkish authorities have temporarily blocked access to social media sites, including Facebook, X, Wikipedia and most recently Instagram, which remained blocked for nine days in August and drew international condemnation.
President Erdoğan’s government is regularly accused of muzzling freedom of expression and cracking down on people who express criticism of his government on social media.
Thousands of people face investigation, are prosecuted and sentenced to prison in Turkey for expressing views disliked by the government on social media platforms.
Rights groups routinely accuse Turkey of undermining media freedom by arresting journalists and shutting down critical media outlets, especially since Erdoğan survived the failed coup in July 2016.
