Turkey YouTube ban: President Erdogan blocks website after claims of further government corruption are uploaded

 

James Vincent
Thursday 27 March 2014 16:43 GMT
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People hold placards as they protest against Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan after the government blocked access to Twitter
People hold placards as they protest against Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan after the government blocked access to Twitter

YouTube has been blocked in Turkey after alleged leaks of high-level security talks regarding Syria were uploaded to the site.

The news comes only a day after courts in the country ordered that a ban of Twitter be lifted.

The national telecoms authority (TIB) has said that it has taken an “administrative measure” against the site, according to reports from Reuters.

The news agency also examined the uploaded recording that apparently triggered the ban, saying it was potentially the most damaging leak yet, as it would have had to have originated from an extremely confidential meeting.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan originally vowed to “wipe out Twitter” after users spread allegation of corruption ahead of elections.

Preliminary local polls are to be held this weekend that will indicate the future of the current government. These follow a summer of harsh crackdowns against anti-government protestors and scandals for Erdogan as recorded calls uploaded online seemed to indicate massive corruption.

Turkey is a Muslim Nato and country seen as significant to the foreign interests of both Europe and the US due its geographical position on the borders of the Middle East.

Edrogan's AK Party ('Justice and Development Party') was formed in 2001 from a coalition of centre-right nationalists and conservative religious Muslims and trounced the secular parties in the polls a year later.

Opposition leaders say that after three successive elections victories Erdogan is desperate to hang on to power and risks leading Turkey back into another period of dictatorship, while Erdogan himself claims that there is an "evil alliance" plotting against him.

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