Google services face widespread outages across Turkey and Europe

Istanbul: Google services, including YouTube, experienced partial outages in Turkey and several parts of Europe earlier today. The disruption, which began at approximately 10:00 a.m. local time (07:00 GMT), was confirmed by multiple sources, including Turkey’s Freedom of Expression Association and the Deputy Minister for Telecommunications.

A map shared by Deputy Minister Omer Fatih Sayan indicated that the blackout extended beyond Turkey to southeastern Europe, parts of Ukraine, Russia, and western Europe.

The Turkish cybersecurity watchdog has requested that Google submit a technical report detailing the cause of the outage.

Reports from users and online monitoring platforms—like Downdetector—show widespread disruptions to critical services such as Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, and YouTube. Common user complaints included error messages and pages stuck in endless loading loops, with "5xx server error" being a frequently cited issue.

Some users found that using VPN services restored access, suggesting a possible infrastructure or routing issue localized to certain regions.

As of now, Google has not issued a public statement regarding the incident. Authorities in Turkey remain engaged with the company to resolve the issue and understand its underlying cause.

Users are advised to monitor official channels for updates and consider alternative tools or platforms as needed until service restoration is confirmed.