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Türkiye Blocks Access to Instagram

FILED - 17 May 2016, North Rhine-Westphalia, Duesseldorf: The Instagram logo is seen on an Apple iPhone 6. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
FILED - 17 May 2016, North Rhine-Westphalia, Duesseldorf: The Instagram logo is seen on an Apple iPhone 6. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
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Türkiye Blocks Access to Instagram

FILED - 17 May 2016, North Rhine-Westphalia, Duesseldorf: The Instagram logo is seen on an Apple iPhone 6. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
FILED - 17 May 2016, North Rhine-Westphalia, Duesseldorf: The Instagram logo is seen on an Apple iPhone 6. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

Türkiye’s communications authority blocked access to the social media platform Instagram on Friday.

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority, which regulates the internet, announced the decision early Friday but did not provide a reason.

Yeni Safak newspaper, which is close to the government, and other media said access was blocked in response to Instagram removing posts by Turkish users that expressed condolences over the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

“Sanctions for Instagram’s blackout policy were swift. The Information Technologies and Communication Authority blocked access to Instagram,” Yeni Safak stated in its online edition.

It came days after Fahrettin Altun, the presidential communications director and aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, strongly criticized the Meta-owned platform for preventing users in Türkiye from posting messages of condolences for Haniyeh.

Instagram has over 50 million users in Türkiye, a nation with a population of 85 million.

Türkiye is observing a day of mourning for Haniyeh on Friday, during which flags are being flown at half-staff.

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Ukraine Adds Another Turkish Corvette to its Navy for the War with Russia

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, people react during the launching ceremony of the Ukrainian Navy’s Ada class corvette “Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi” in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. This vessel was constructed for the Ukrainian Navy at a shipyard in Türkiye. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, people react during the launching ceremony of the Ukrainian Navy’s Ada class corvette “Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi” in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. This vessel was constructed for the Ukrainian Navy at a shipyard in Türkiye. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
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Ukraine Adds Another Turkish Corvette to its Navy for the War with Russia

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, people react during the launching ceremony of the Ukrainian Navy’s Ada class corvette “Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi” in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. This vessel was constructed for the Ukrainian Navy at a shipyard in Türkiye. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, people react during the launching ceremony of the Ukrainian Navy’s Ada class corvette “Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi” in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. This vessel was constructed for the Ukrainian Navy at a shipyard in Türkiye. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukraine has taken delivery of a second Turkish-built navy corvette, officials said Friday, although they did not say specifically how the warships might be used in the war against Russia, The AP reported.

Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, attended the launching ceremony of the Ada-class corvette during a visit to Türkiye, the Ukrainian presidency announced on its website.

The corvette Ukraine already had is currently undergoing sea trials.

Turkish Ada-class ships are typically able to strike planes, other ships and submarines.

Ukraine, which has coastlines on the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov, had a small navy at the time of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion.

But it has developed deadly uncrewed sea drones that have severely limited Moscow’s Black Sea naval capability.

The Ukrainian presidency said the corvettes would help protect the country’s interests in the Black and Azov seas “but also, in particular, in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.”

The presidency statement did not elaborate.

International law forbids the passage of warships through Türkiye's busy Bosporus Strait, which links the Mediterranean and Black seas, during times of war. However, the presidency's statement didn’t say where exactly the Turkish shipyard was located, meaning it could be on the northern side of the strait, with a direct route to Ukraine.

Ukraine ordered the two Turkish corvettes under an agreement signed in 2020, the presidency said.

Ukrainian authorities last month adopted a Maritime Security Strategy that aims to rebuild its naval capability.

It is also getting help with that from Western partners. The maritime capability coalition, headed by the United Kingdom and Norway, was established last December.