Twitter to ban journalist Mahir Zeynalov in Turkey

PUBLISHED MON, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016 -
Credit: Twitter
Tweets from Turkish journalist and analyst Mahir Zeynalov will be banned in Turkey at the government's request, accusing the journalist of "instigating terrorism," he said on Monday. There was no immediate response from the company. (more)  Zeynalov, who writes for both the Huffington Post and Al Arabiya and has previously worked for Today's Zaman newspaper, said on Monday that Twitter had notified him that his tweets on his English-langugage account will no longer be visible to Turkish users.. "Twitter told me that it will block my account at the request of Turkey for 'instigating terrorism,' putting an end to my ~7-year reporting," Zeynalov said in a tweet. "This is a farewell message to my followers in Turkey. Love it or loathe it, I always believed in what I wrote and will continue to do so." Zeynalov added that his second account, on which he tweeted only in Turkish, had already been banned in Turkey since last month.  "I am one of more than a hundred Turkish journalists whose verified accounts are withheld as part of Ankara's relentless censorship campaign," said the journalist, who has nearly 250,000 followers on the two accounts combined. Other details were not yet available and a spokesperson for Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.