Probe launched into 347 social media accounts after Istanbul attack

ISTANBUL

AFP photo

An investigation has been launched into 347 social media users who posted in support of terror following the Reina nightclub attack in Istanbul that killed 39 people and wounded 65, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş announced on Jan. 2.

“An investigation was launched into 347 social media accounts since they had been reviewed to have sow discord among the nation,” Kurtulmuş told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.

Kurtulmuş also added that Ankara has developed a very close dialogue with social media service providers, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in terms of closing accounts which provide support to terror organizations.
Earlier, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım had also vowed there would be “consequences” for social media users who post in support of terror early on Jan. 2, following the Reina nightclub attack.

“It must be known that actions praising terror are crimes and have penal sanctions,” Yıldırım stated via the Prime Ministry’s official Twitter account. 

He added that terrorism’s real aim was to “spread fear and concern among people,” stressing the importance of not sharing posts that could contribute to terrorist groups’ purposes. 

Yıldırım said there was “no difference” between terrorist organizations, which all simply aim to kill people indiscriminately and without mercy. 

In the aftermath of the Reina attack, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ also noted that “making the propaganda of terror and terrorist organizations constituted a crime.”

Bozdağ stated via his official Twitter account that people who shared messages praising terrorist organizations before and after attacks were committing a crime.

“Making the propaganda of terror and terrorist organizations and rousing people to enmity and hostility, hate and discrimination are crimes according to our law and have penal sanctions,” he said.     

Meanwhile, Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TTB) head Metin Feyzioğlu has announced that the TTB will file complaints against all people who praise terror on social media.

Feyzioğlu also requested that members of the public people report social media posts that praised terrorism.