Hasan Piker, Cenk Uygur blocked from entering UK for criticizing Israel

Political commentator Cenk Uygur and Twitch streamer Hasan Piker say they have been barred from entering the United Kingdom over comments critical of Israel.

Uygur, co-founder of The Young Turks, said on X that he was stopped from boarding a flight to London on Sunday while travelling to attend SXSW London and speak at Oxford University.

“I’ve been banned from the UK. I tried to get on a flight to London to attend SXSW London and give a speech at Oxford. I’ve been banned for criticizing Israel,” Uygur wrote.

He later claimed British authorities described him as “a serious risk to the public order” because of remarks he made about Israel’s political influence in the United States.

The reason for the alleged ban has not been independently confirmed.

“They broke the irony record by saying it was because I said Israel might control other governments,” Uygur wrote, later calling the situation “absolutely Kafkaesque.”

Hasan Piker, a popular left-wing online commentator and Uygur’s nephew, later claimed he had also been blocked from travelling to the UK.

“The UK has revoked my visa as well,” Piker wrote on X.

The British government has not publicly commented on the claims.