Turkish authorities on Thursday blocked the X accounts of two pro-Kurdish news agencies, citing concerns over “national security” and “public order,” the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) reported.
The blocked accounts belonging to the Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) and the Jin News Agency, whose Turkish, Kurdish and English-language accounts were restricted in Turkey “in order to comply with our obligations arising from local laws,” according to notifications sent by X to the outlets.
MA said it would continue reporting through new accounts in three languages: Turkish (@maturkce2), Kurdish (@makurdi0) and English (@maenglish0). Jin News also shared its updated accounts: @JINNEWS_turkce, @Jinnews_kurdi and @jinnews_english.
MA’s website and X account have previously faced access restrictions in Turkey, while Jin News’ X, Instagram and YouTube accounts were blocked earlier in 2025.
The Dicle Fırat Journalists Association criticized the decision, saying the block came shortly after Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) attacked Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria. “Blocking outlets that practice peace journalism rather than warmongering denies the public access to the truth,” the association said.
Press freedom groups and watchdogs such as the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) and EngelliWeb have documented a sharp rise in government takedown orders, especially since the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in March.
İmamoğlu, a senior member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was detained on March 19 and arrested days later on corruption charges. He was named his party’s presidential candidate in March for the 2028 general election. His arrest, generally seen as targeting the biggest political rival of longtime President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, sparked Turkey’s largest protests in a decade.
Turkey’s increasing use of digital censorship has been cited by press freedom monitors as a key factor in the country’s low ranking in global media freedom indices.
The US-based democracy watchdog Freedom House’s “2025 Freedom on the Net” report placed Turkey among the five countries with the steepest long-term declines in internet freedom. The organization cited broad censorship practices and intensified digital controls over the past 15 years, giving Turkey a score of 31 out of 100, putting it in the bottom tier of the 72 countries assessed.
The country was ranked 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
