According to a report shared by the Kurdish Voice of America (VOA) on its X account, the internet service of American Kurdish Radio has been blocked in Turkey.
The decision was confirmed by the Second Branch of the Adıyaman Criminal Court on 19 February. The EngelliWeb news platform reported that the court’s ruling was justified on the grounds of maintaining national security and public order.
In line with these actions, the same court issued another ruling disabling the website of the Mezopotamia News Agency (MA).
This follows a similar decision by the same court, which also blocked access to MA just a day earlier. Furthermore, on 13 February 2025, the Ankara 6th Criminal Court of Peace blocked the YouTube, X, and Instagram accounts of Kurdish journalist Abdurrahman Gök under Article 8/A of Law No. 5651, once again citing national security concerns. As a result, YouTube has made Gök’s account inaccessible from within Turkey.
The case dates back 22 August 2023, when an Ankara court granted a request from the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), Turkey’s government telecommunications regulator, to block Voice of America (VOA) over alleged unpaid licensing fees.
This move followed the blocking of VOA’s websites in 2022. In February of that year, RTÜK ordered VOA and Deutsche Welle to apply for broadcast licenses or face restrictions.
Under Turkey’s legal framework, court decisions to block websites are typically not permanent, whether the blocking period is specified—and when the decision can be lifted—depends on various factors.
In 2024, Turkey recorded the third-highest number of press freedom violations among European Union candidate countries, with journalists enduring widespread arrests, censorship, and intimidation, according to a recent report by Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR).
The International Press Institute, along with partner organisations including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), PEN International, Kurdish PEN, and more than 30 other press freedom and human rights groups, has recently raised alarms over the growing wave of press freedom violations in Turkey.
