Turkey blocks journalist's social media account over posts on trade with Israel

Turkish authorities have banned access to journalist Metin Cihan’s X account in which he has been sharing documents on Turkish companies continuing trade with Israel.

Sunday February 09 2025 02:01 am

Duvar English

As of Feb. 8, independent journalist Metin Cihan's X account has been blocked in Turkey.

Cihan has been sharing reports about Turkish companies continuing trade with Israel despite the official trade ban imposed on Israel due to its continuing genocide against Palestinians.

The Trade Ministry along with other government officials have repeatedly denied claims.

Particularly, the presence of ZIM shipping company's containers at Ambarlı Port in Marmara Sea during early November 2024 fueled a debate on possible continuation of the trade.

ZIM previously had nearly half of its shares owned by the Israeli state and maintains close ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Cihan also shared documents on his X account, showing that various Turkish companies, specifically including members of the pro-government business association Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD), continued exporting barbed wire, cement, and petroleum products to Israel.

Additionally, the journalist reported that Pamukkale Kablo company, owned by Mustafa Semerci, a founding member of the government’s far-right Sunni Islamist and ultranationalist ally Great Unity Party (BBP), has been the primary cable supplier for the Israeli army.

In a message also shared on X, Cihan stated, "There is no court ruling against me. This decision has no legal basis. The government requested it, and X complied. Censorship operates this simply."

bu paylaşımı görebiliyorsanız, açıklamamın duyulması için bu görseli kaydedip kendi hesabınızdan paylaşmanızı rica ediyorum. pic.twitter.com/NyYOnCyrQx
— metin cihan (@metcihan) February 8, 2025

Cihan emphasized that his reports were based entirely on public official sources and that he used data from the Ministry of Trade.

He asserted, "The ministry was later forced to admit that this trade was happening, and this truth had a major impact on Erdoğan's local election defeat."

He also criticized X, "Since Twitter rebranded as X after being bought by a wealthy brat who supports oppressive and genocidal policies worldwide, censorship has become a routine practice."

User from Turkey cannot access to Cihan's account and see a message reading, "@metcihan has been witheld in TR in response to a legal demand."

Following the block, Cihan announced that he would continue publishing his reports on alternative social media platform Bluesky.

In November 2024, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his family filed a criminal complaint against Metin Cihan over his statement reading, "While Erdoğan was condemning Israel for bombing a hospital, his son Burak Erdoğan's company was loading cargo at an Israeli port."

In December, a Turkish court imposed an access restriction on journalist Cihan's tweets in which he exposed Turkish companies' continuing trade relations with Israel upon the application of former PM Binali Binali Yıldırım. Cihan has previously shared that the company of Yıldırım’s son has been continuing shipments to Israel since its attacks on Gaza started.