(Turkey). Turkey has banned the popular social media platform 'Instagram'. No information has been given by Turkey regarding the reason for the decision to ban Instagram. It has also not been said how long this ban on social media platforms will remain in force.

According to a report by Al Jazeera, Turkey has not officially given the reason for the ban, but several reports say that Turkey has blocked Instagram to remove content related to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after his killing.

Turkey accused Instagram

According to the report, instagram.com is said to have been banned by a decision dated 02/08/2024 without giving a reason. Earlier on Wednesday, Turkey's communications director, Fahrettin Altun, accused Instagram of blocking condolence posts on the death of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.

Altun posted on the social media platform 'X' saying, "I strongly condemn the social media platform Instagram, which prevents people from posting condolences on Haniya's martyrdom without giving any reason. This is a very clear attempt at censorship."

He added, "We will continue to defend freedom of expression against these platforms, which have repeatedly shown that they serve a global system of exploitation and injustice. We will stand with our Palestinian brothers at every opportunity and on every platform. Palestine will be free sooner or later. Israel and its supporters will not be able to stop it."

Hamas chief was killed in Iran.

On July 31, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an attack in the Iranian capital Tehran.

In a statement, the IRGC said that Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed when his home in Tehran was attacked. According to a report by Press TV, a missile hit Haniyeh's residence in Tehran at 2 am (local time) on Wednesday.

In a statement to Mehr News Agency, the IRGC said, "With condolences to the heroic nation of Palestine and the Islamic nation and the fighters of the Resistance Front and the great nation of Iran, this morning (Wednesday), the residence of Ismail Haniya, the head of the political office of the Islamic Resistance of Hamas, was attacked in Tehran and following the incident, he and one of his bodyguards were martyred."

Turkey condemns the killing of Haniya.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry condemned the killing of Ismail Haniya and expressed condolences to the Palestinian people. It accused the Israeli government of lacking the intention to establish peace. It said the attack was aimed at spreading the war in Gaza to a regional level. It further said Turkey would continue to support the 'just cause' of the Palestinian people.

In a statement, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said, "The Netanyahu government's lack of intention to establish peace has been demonstrated once again. This attack is also aimed at spreading the war in Gaza to a regional level. If the international community does not take action to stop Israel, our region will face an even bigger conflict."