A Turkish court has ordered an access ban on the X account of the Education and Science Workers’ Union (Eğitim-İş), reportedly over posts commemorating three student leaders executed in 1973, the Birgün daily reported.
Union chair Kadem Özbay said the Ankara 7th Criminal Magistrate of Peace issued the block but that the union has yet to receive any official notification explaining the reason and legal basis for the decision.
Özbay said the access ban targeted posts shared on May 6, marking the anniversary of the executions of Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan. “Treating a historical commemoration that exists in the public memory as a crime is not a legal matter; it is a political choice,” he added.
The three student leaders were hanged at a prison in Ankara’s Ayaş district for attempting to overthrow the constitutional order after a junta-backed government voted to approve their death penalties, just two years after a 1971 military coup. The three have become rallying figures among leftist circles since their deaths.
Özbay further stated that the ban also targeted the union’s broader stance against the commercialization of education, incompetence in public institutions, reactionary policies and the devaluation of labor. He described the court order as an infringement on freedom of expression and trade union activity.
Labor unions in Turkey have long faced state repression, with intensified crackdown in recent years targeting unions critical of government policies. Since an abortive putsch in 2016, authorities increasingly used charges such as terrorism or incitement of violence to justify raids, detentions and bans on strikes, often citing national security. These actions, including the arrests of union officials, are seen as part of a broader effort to suppress dissent and limit the influence of independent civil society.