Bypassing Website Blocks in Turkey with VPN

Turkish residents have been circumventing website and social media blocks for 4 years using VPN services

Website blocking is hardly a novelty on the global stage. Turkey, a neighbor to Ukraine, has faced similar challenges. When a popular social network was blocked there, users learned how to circumvent the restrictions.

Four years ago, in spring 2014, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced he would completely shut down access to Twitter after links to materials compromising members of his party were posted on the platform. That's when he made the now-famous statement about blocking the social network: "We will eradicate Twitter – and I don't care what the international community says about it". So what did Turkish residents do?

As it turned out, Turkish citizens discovered VPN technology and its purpose for the first time. After the court decision to block Twitter across Turkey, the free application Tunnelbear became hugely popular, allowing users to bypass the blockade in literally 5 seconds.

The app works by changing the IP address from a Turkish one to a foreign alternative (USA, Romania, Germany), making it possible to circumvent the block. Today, even Wikipedia is blocked in Turkey. When local journalists write about the timeline of Twitter's ban in Turkey, they're forced to use it – again, via VPN.

Beyond this, VPN is also useful for Turks during emergencies. Many have heard that Turkey frequently experiences local armed conflicts and explosions in residential buildings causing significant casualties. During these events, the government implements what's called "bandwidth throttling." Turkish authorities don't completely block internet access, but drastically reduce channel capacity, making it nearly impossible for many people to even send a text message on Twitter simultaneously, let alone upload a video to YouTube documenting the incident.

Is Free VPN Safe?

According to unconfirmed reports, some free VPN providers only serve their clients when it suits them. There are frequent accusations that they retain browsing history and collect personal data without user consent. Given this, it's clear that choosing a VPN provider requires careful consideration.

It's better to focus on paid VPN services. For a modest monthly fee, you can purchase a dedicated application that provides genuinely fast and confidential access to the sites you need. If you opt for annual subscriptions, the monthly cost drops significantly. So if you have your own list of blocked resources in your country, subscribe to an annual plan with our RocketVPN service.