An Internet monitor group has reported that access to Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp were blocked in Turkey on Friday. The takedown was imposed following the detention of 11 pro-Kurdish members of the Turkish parliament.

The recent takedown is not the first time the Turkish government has restricted access to certain Internet services in the country. In 2015, the Turkish parliament approved a bill to allow the government to restrict access to websites without prior authorization from the judicial branch, according to Pakistan Today.

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Over the past few years, Turkish President Recep Erdogan, along with his influential Justice and Development Party, have been widely criticized for restricting access to social media platforms and the Internet.

In March 2014, the Turkish government blocked access to YouTube and Twitter. The two websites were used by activists to spread several audio recordings that implicated Erdogan, along with some of his closest allies, in a corruption scandal.

In a statement acquired by The Telegraph, monitoring site Turkey Blocks said, "Internet restrictions are increasingly being used in Turkey to suppress media coverage of political incidents, a form of censorship deployed at short notice to prevent civil unrest."

Although Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube have been taken down before in Turkey, this is the first time that the government has restricted access to messaging app WhatsApp. Some users in different locations of the country claim that they can still access the said services, although at a very dismal speed.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirm did not directly confirm that the said services were blocked. However, the Prime Minister said that such measures, like blocking a certain Internet service, is essential for security reasons.

Before the recent restrictions on access to Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, users in the southern part of Turkey reported difficulties in accessing the Internet in general.