ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s communications authority blocked access to the social media platform Instagram on Friday, the latest instance of a clampdown on websites in the country.
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.
Earlier, Fahrettin Altun, the presidential communications director and aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had strongly criticized the Meta-owned platform for preventing users in Turkey from posting messages of condolences for Haniyeh.
There was no immediate comment from Instagram, which has over 50 million users in Turkey, a nation with a population of 85 million.
Unlike its Western allies, Turkey does not consider Hamas to be a terror organization. A strong critic of Israel's military actions in Gaza, Erdogan has described the group as “liberation fighters.”
The country is observing a day of mourning for Haniyeh on Friday, during which flags are being flown at half-staff.
Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and a member of Turkey's main opposition party, denounced the decision to block Instagram, accusing the communications authority of acting like a “censorship unit.”
“Social media is a platform that everyone uses for many purposes, including for commerce and communicating,” Imamoglu wrote on X. “It is unacceptable that a platform used by the entire country is arbitrarily shut down one morning.”
Turkey has a track record of censoring social media and websites. Hundreds of thousands of domains have been blocked since 2022, according to the Freedom of Expression Association, a non-profit organization regrouping lawyers and human rights activists. The video-sharing platform YouTube was blocked from 2007 to 2010.
FILE - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici, File)
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A bridge collapsed Monday as more rain fell on northern Vietnam from a former typhoon that caused landslides, flooding, power outages and at least 21 deaths, state media reported.
The busy steel bridge over the engorged Red River in Phu Tho province collapsed Monday morning, local officials told state media. Several motorbikes and cars fell into the river, the initial reports said, adding that three people fished out of the river in ongoing rescue operations had been taken to the hospital. No casualties have yet been reported.
Typhoon Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit Vietnam in decades when it made landfall Saturday with winds up to 149 kph (92 mph). It weakened to a tropical depression Sunday, but the country’s meteorological agency has still warned the continuing downpours could cause floods and landslides.
On Sunday, a landslide killed six people including an infant and injured nine others in Sa Pa town, a popular trekking base known for its terraced rice fields and mountains. Overall, state media reported 21 deaths and at least 299 people injured from the weekend.
Skies were overcast in the capital, Hanoi, with occasional rain Monday morning as workers cleared the uprooted trees, fallen billboards and toppled electricity poles. Heavy rain continued in northwestern Vietnam and forecasters said it could exceed 40 centimeters (15 inches) in places.
Initially, at least 3 million people were left without electricity in Quang Ninh and Haiphong provinces, and it's unclear how much has been restored.
The two provinces are industrial hubs, housing many factories that export goods including EV maker VinFast and Apple suppliers Pegatrong and USI. Factory workers told The Associated Press on Sunday that many industrial parks were inundated and the roofs of many factories had been blown away.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Haiphong city on Sunday and approved a package of $4.62 million to help the port city recover.
Yagi also damaged agricultural land, nearly 116,192 hectares where rice is mostly grown.
Before hitting Vietnam, Yagi caused at least 20 deaths in the Philippines last week and three deaths in China.
Storms like Typhoon Yagi were “getting stronger due to climate change, primarily because warmer ocean waters provide more energy to fuel the storms, leading to increased wind speeds and heavier rainfall,” said Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore.
Flood triggered by Typhoon Yagi submerges houses in Bac Giang province, Vietnam Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (Le Danh Lam/VNA via AP)
Flood triggered by Typhoon Yagi submerges houses in Phu Tho province, Vietnam Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (Ta Van Toan/VNA via AP)
A bridge collapse due to floods triggered by typhoon Yagi in Phu Tho province, Vietnam on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024 (Bui Van Lanh/ VNA via AP)
A bridge collapse due to floods triggered by typhoon Yagi in Phu Tho province, Vietnam on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024 (Bui Van Lanh/ VNA via AP)
Flood triggered by Typhoon Yagi submerges houses in Phu Tho province, Vietnam Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (Ta Van Toan/VNA via AP)
People carry belongings in flood triggered by Typhoon Yagi in Lang Son province, Vietnam Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (Nguyen Anh Tuan/VNA via AP)
Flood triggered by Typhoon Yagi submerges houses in Lang Son province, Vietnam Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (Nguyen Anh Tuan/VNA via AP)
A bridge collapse due to floods triggered by typhoon Yagi in Phu Tho province, Vietnam on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024 (Bui Van Lanh/ VNA via AP)
