Turkey has blocked the X account of a digital rights expert who heads Turkey's Freedom of Expression Association (IFOD), citing national security concerns, a watchdog said Thursday. 

It was the latest in a string of closures of social media accounts.

The account of Yaman Akdeniz, a digital rights expert and an IFOD founder, was blocked to X users in Turkey "on grounds of protecting national security and public order", said EngelliWeb, which monitors Turkish internet censorship. 

"My X account has been blocked and @GlobalAffairs withheld my account from Türkiye," wrote Akdeniz on X, in a post only visible with a VPN in Turkey, referring to the social media platform's global government affairs team.

"I have been fighting Internet censorship for over 30 years and X has notified me without providing the details, or a copy of the blocking decision, or the reasons," wrote Akdeniz, who is also a law professor. 

"This begs for an explanation from @elonmusk."

Since September 12, Turkey has blocked hundreds of social media accounts in a crackdown that has spread to journalists, media outlets, women's groups, human rights and media freedom advocates and beyond.

On Tuesday, the X account of the We Will Stop Femicides platform (KCDP) that monitors gender violence, was shut down, the group said. Turkey does not publish figures on femicides, leaving the job to organisations like KCDP.

Also Thursday, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced a new unit to monitor "digital environment security and combat disinformation" in a post on X. 

Teams of specialised public prosecutors would be set up at courthouses across the country tasked with "closely monitoring" any allegedly criminal content on digital platforms, he said.

"The identification of suspects, the initiation of legal proceedings and the intervention processes for unlawful content will be carried out more swiftly," he added.

© Agence France-Presse