A Turkish court has ordered a ban on news of an explosion at a military base in the southeast of the country on Friday, injuring at least 25 soldiers and losing five others.
The court said the publication ban was intended to prevent "misinformation" about the blast at the base in the province of Shamdini in the province of Hakkari, near Iran, at a time when authorities opened an investigation, according to the Stockholm Center for Freedoms.
The Ministry of Defense said in a brief statement that the explosion occurred during an artillery fire at the base, noting that the preliminary information shows that it is caused by "corrupt ammunition."
She added that the injured soldiers were taken to hospitals, pledging to continue searching for the missing soldiers.
Turkey's decision to ban the publication of the news of the blast comes at a time when Ankara is being criticized for its record in the field of press freedom. Turkey ranks 157th out of 180 countries in its Reporters Without Borders (RSF) report on freedom of the press.
If Turkey loses two more seats, it will become part of the list of "blacklisted states" that have the poorest record of press freedom.
Turkey is the world's largest prison for journalists. There are 239 journalists and journalists there until the end of October 2018. Only 69 journalists have been convicted, while the rest are held in pre-trial detention.
Ankara has arrested tens of thousands of people for alleged links to the preacher's movement, Fathullah Gulen, and closed 200 media outlets for nearly two years.
The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Gulen of involvement in the failed coup attempt in July 2016, which the latter strongly denies.
