Turkey shuts down access to Twitter, Facebook and Youtube amid crackdown - reports

Authorities in Turkey have reportedly shut down many major internet sites in a major crackdown, after the arrest of a group of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic party (HDP) officials.

Sites including major social networks Whatsapp, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are said to have been inaccessible on Friday, according to a website tracker in the country.

Turkey Blocks reported that the sites, as well as many more, had been cut off as a result of increased government interference in free speech after a failed coup in Turkey in July of this year.

Both joint leaders of the HDP, along with various MPs, were arrested after being accused of refusing to give evidence for crimes linked to "terrorist propaganda".

The party is the third largest in the Turkish parliament, and the government has said that it is linked to the PKK, a terrorist organisation listed by Turkey, the US and the EU. Its offices in Ankara were also raided and searched.

Earlier this week, there were reports of a full internet shutdown in Turkey's southeastern region, apparently preventing the arrival of medical supplies to the area.

Anti-government protesters rose up against the establishment earlier this year in an unsuccessful coup attempt. Since then prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has issued a state of emergency and cracked down hard on dissent in Turkey.