Turkey has blocked the X (formerly Twitter) account of prominent independent journalist Metin Cihan after his exposés revealed evidence of ongoing trade between Turkey and Israel during the Gaza war, directly contradicting President Erdoğan’s claims of halting such trade in solidarity with Palestinians.
"My X (Twitter) account has been banned. There is no court ruling against me—this decision has no legal basis. The government requested it, and X complied. Censorship is this simple."
Cihan, a vocal critic of the Turkish government’s foreign policy, published official documents revealing that trade between Turkey and Israel persisted through Turkish ports, despite the government’s claims of severing ties with Israel. His reports directly contradicted statements from Turkish officials and highlighted that economic relations between the two nations remained unchanged throughout the conflict.
The journalist’s exposé was based on publicly available sources, including data from Turkey’s Ministry of Trade. In response to his revelations, the ministry was forced to acknowledge the ongoing trade, a disclosure widely seen as playing a significant role in the ruling party’s losses in the local elections. Cihan argued that the recent blocking of his X account by Turkey was a direct result of the threats to the government’s voter base caused by his reporting.
