Social Media Shutdown in Turkey During Military Coup

While the coup in Turkey in still unfolding, all social media in the country has been shut down. The Turkish military has seized control of some Turkish TV stations as well.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced that elements within the Turkish military were attempting to seize power, after low flying airplanes were spotted and gunshots were heard in Ankara. Yildirim stressed on television that the sitting government did not intend to relinquish power. Soldiers and military vehicles were deployed in the capital city of Ankara and Istanbul.

— ♡ (@angeIhyeri) July 15, 2016

— mona saliba (@monasaliba) July 15, 2016

— Travel — State Dept (@TravelGov) July 15, 2016

​Twitter, Youtube and Facebook have already been shut down. A Turkish twitter account dedicated to monitoring whether social media is online in the country reports that Twitter was shut down at 11:04pm local time. 

 

— Alex Phillips ️ (@AlexP_Music) July 15, 2016

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— Priyanka Grover (@_priyankagrover) July 15, 2016

​Turkey has a history of shutting down social media during crisis, the last such incident taking place when the Istanbul airport was bombed in late June.