Turkish authorities have blocked access to the YouTube account of Muhammed Yakut, who has recently been making shocking allegations about the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Cumhuriyet daily reported.
Yakut, a Kurdish businessman from the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, has been making revelations on YouTube about AKP figures’ alleged links to shady businesses, black money and mafia schemes as well as the murky background of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
Yakut’s “Delilerin Delisi” (the craziest of the crazy) YouTube channel became inaccessible after a court order was issued on Wednesday.
Although little is known at present about Yakut, who is currently abroad, some people liken him to mob boss Sedat Peker, who lives in exile in the United Arab Emirates. Peker vowed to expose the government’s dirty laundry two months before the May 14 parliamentary and presidential elections; however, he has been unable to make good on his promise because he has been forbidden from broadcasting exposés on the internet.
Journalist Serdar Akinan was detained on Wednesday and released on judicial probation 20 hours after his detention after he interviewed Yakut.
Yakut told Akinan that the July 15 coup attempt was staged and that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and members of his government all knew about it in advance.
He said Erdoğan and the AKP government as well as then-chief of general staff and current defense minister Hulusi Akar were responsible for the death of 251 people on the night of the coup.
People challenging the AKP narrative on the failed coup or investigating its background are frequently targeted through judicial action or bans.
According to the AKP, it was staged by the faith-based Gülen movement, a claim strongly denied by the movement.
Many believe the abortive putsch was a false flag aimed at entrenching the authoritarian rule of President Erdoğan by rooting out dissidents and eliminating powerful actors such as the military in his desire for absolute power.