Turkey on Wednesday blocked a total of 26 X accounts linked to the left-wing People’s Houses Association, citing “national security” and “public order” concerns, a move the association said was carried out without any official notification or disclosure of the legal basis.
According to the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD), the block notice on X said the accounts were restricted in Turkey “in response to a legal demand.”
The association’s main X account, which had around 130,000 followers, had previously been blocked following protests that erupted after the detention of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19.
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.
Reacting to the restrictions in a post on X, the association’s chairperson, Nebiye Merttürk, said, “Those who fail to prevent femicides, killings in vocational training centers and child abuse are now concerned with blocking our accounts. An epic success.”
Founded in 1932, the association conducts educational, cultural and social activities. Critical of Erdoğan’s government, it conducts advocacy work on health, education, housing, environmental protection and women’s and disability rights.
Turkish civil society organizations have faced judicial and administrative measures over the last decade, along with mounting legal difficulties amid what rights groups describe as increasing pressure by the government to curb dissent and limit human rights advocacy.
International organizations and human rights groups, including the Council of Europe (CoE), the European Union and Amnesty International, have repeatedly raised concerns over restrictions on freedom of expression as well as limits on associations in Turkey.
President Erdoğan’s government intensified its crackdown on civil society following an abortive putsch in July 2016. During a two-year state of emergency that remained in force until 2018, the authorities summarily shut down a total of 1,748 associations and foundations through emergency decree-laws.
