In a surprising move on Friday, Turkey's Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) blocked access to Instagram, citing no official reason or timeline for the ban. This action follows accusations earlier this week by the Turkish government that the social media platform had removed posts related to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas.

Haniyeh, who was killed in a pre-dawn attack in Tehran on Wednesday along with a bodyguard, had been a prominent ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The attack, which has been attributed to Israel, has heightened tensions in the region, with both Iran and Hamas vowing retaliation.

Fahrettin Altun, the Turkish presidency's communications spokesman, accused Instagram of "censorship" for allegedly blocking messages of condolence for Haniyeh. "This is censorship, pure and simple," Altun stated on X, formerly known as Twitter. He further claimed that Instagram had not provided any policy-related reasons for its actions.

As of now, Instagram's parent company, Meta, has not responded to the allegations or the ban imposed by Turkish authorities. Local media reports that Instagram boasts over 50 million users in Turkey, a significant portion of the country's 85 million population.

This isn't the first instance of Turkey restricting access to social media platforms. Wikipedia was blocked in Turkey between April 2017 and January 2020 due to articles alleging connections between the Turkish presidency and extremism. Earlier this year, Meta also suspended its Threads social network in Turkey after authorities intervened, preventing it from sharing data with Instagram.

On Friday, Turkey observed a day of mourning for Haniyeh, amidst concerns that his death could derail potential cease-fire negotiations in the ongoing Gaza conflict, which has lasted nearly ten months. While Hamas is labeled a terrorist organization by countries such as the United States, Germany, and Israel, Turkey does not classify the group as such. Instead, President Erdoğan has referred to them as "liberation fighters" and has criticized Israel's military operations in Gaza.

The killing of Haniyeh has sparked fears of further escalation in the region. Hamas has called for a "day of furious rage" coinciding with Haniyeh's burial in Qatar. The incident has raised alarms about the potential expansion of the Gaza conflict into a broader regional crisis.