Turkish authorities on Thursday blocked access to the account of Istanbul’s jailed opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on social media platform X, where he has nearly 10 million followers.
The arrest of Imamoglu — seen as the biggest rival to longtime leader President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — on March 19 sparked mass street protests in his support.
The arrest, on corruption charges that Imamoglu denies, could stop him taking part in presidential elections scheduled for 2028.
It was not possible to view his X account on Thursday morning. A message read: “Account Withheld — @ekrem_imamoglu has been withheld in TR (Turkey) in response to a legal demand.”
A spokesperson for the Istanbul municipality confirmed access to the account was blocked, without giving further details.
In a bulletin published by its “Disinformation Combat Centre”, the presidency said Imamoglu’s account was blocked after an investigation launched by Istanbul prosecutors into a post made on his account on April 24.
That post was found as a reason to block the account on suspicion of “public incitement to commit a crime”, according to the presidency.
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Prosecutors said Imamoglu did not personally make the posts from his X account that “caused harm to public order” and asked that access be blocked “until his detention is lifted”.
The April post harshly criticised the arrest of opponents including lawyers and asked the nation “not to remain silent and to speak up”.
Turkey was gripped by widespread protests in March over the arrest and jailing of the 53-year-old, with police arresting nearly 2,000 people, including journalists.
Watchdog group EngelliWeb, which reports Internet censorship in Turkey, said on X that Imamoglu’s account had been blocked on national security grounds.
The account “has been blocked under Article 8/A of Law No. 5651, on the grounds of protecting national security and public order and has been made invisible in Turkey by X”, it said.
Yaman Akdeniz, a law professor and head of Turkey’s Freedom of Expression Association (IFOD), called it an “arbitrary order”.
“Unfortunately, I am not surprised, as hundreds of accounts have been subject to such orders since Imamoglu’s arrest,” he told AFP.
“X has officially become the long arm of the Turkish law enforcement agencies,” he said.
Mass Rally
Lawyer Gonenc Gurkaynak said he objected to the court order “upon X’s request and in my capacity as X’s independent attorney” in Turkey.
“This morning… I have submitted a 765-page objection dossier” to an Istanbul court, he said on X.
In a show of solidarity with Imamoglu, some X users replaced their profile pictures with his.
On his last message on X, Imamoglu, who is jailed in Silivri prison on the outskirts of Istanbul, had urged his supporters to join a protest rally held Wednesday, which was called by his CHP party.
Tens of thousands of people took part in the Istanbul rally, one of the biggest in recent weeks.
In the days after Imamoglu’s arrest, tens of thousands of people took part in near-daily protests. But numbers had dwindled in recent weeks.
Wednesday’s protest was held outside Istanbul University, which had stripped Imamoglu of his degree the day before his arrest.
AFP
