Turkey Bans Media Reporting on Deadly Factory Blast in Izmir

A giant Turkish flag during celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic, Istanbul, October 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ERDEM SAHIN. Turkey’s broadcasting regulator, the Radio and Television Supreme Council, RTUK, on Monday announced a ban on reporting an explosion at an iron and steel factory in Aliaga, Izmir that has cost 17 lives. “A ban has been imposed on all news reports, interviews and commentary concerning the incident in print, visual and social media, as well as online, until the investigation is completed,” RTUK said. Authorities said the ban was intended to prevent disinformation and public unrest, protect public order and ensure the investigation could proceed properly. Turkey has previously introduced reporting bans when there have been terror attacks, natural disasters, fatal accidents and major police operations targeting critics. In 2025, for example, the RTUK issued a broadcasting ban about a fire in a ski resort that killed 66 holidaymakers. Critics say that the practice undermines the public’s right to access information. The death toll from Monday’s blast rose to 17, while 14 workers were injured. “The explosion occurred after falling material severed natural gas and oxygen pipes during ongoing maintenance work,” Labour and Social Security Minister Vedat Isikhan said while visiting the blast site on Tuesday. Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the explosion, while six people have been detained in connection with the incident. It was not the first deadly incident at the site. Previous accidents have claimed workers’ lives, but the factory continued to operate. Fatal accidents have been reported repeatedly since 2018, including workers killed in explosions, falls from height and accidents involving steel blocks and loading operations; in a compensation case over the 2020 death of worker Kadir Ozdemir, a court found the Habas plant 70 per cent primarily at fault. Recently, a subcontracted worker, Hakan Dogan, died after falling around eight metres on October 21. Another subcontracted worker, Eyup Eginli, was killed in an explosion while inflating a heavy machinery tyre on November 5, days before Monday’s disaster.