Today at a politcal rally Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan stated that the Turkish government would 'stamp out' Twitter citing international conspiracies and court orders.
Prime Minister Erdoğan is reported to have said:
(in Turkish)
"Uluslararası komplolar bu işin içinde, bu twitterler var ya, şimdi mahkeme kararı çıktı. Bu twitter mwitter, hepsinin kökünü kazıyacağız. Efendin uluslararası camia şöyle der böyle der, hiç beni ilgilendirmiyor. Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devletinin gücünü görecekler. Bunun özgürlükle alakası yok. Özgürlük birinin mahremine girmek değildir, özgürlük devletin sırlarını bu tür kanallarla, fitnelemek değildir. Buna fırsat vermeyeceğiz, süratle bu adımı atıyoruz. Ülkemin güvenliği söz konusu. Ülkeme fitne fesat sokmak isteyen ister ulusal olsun ister uluslararası olsun karşısında Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devletini ve bizi bulacaktır."
(translation)
International conspiracies are involved in this, you know this Twitter, now there is a court order. This Twitter scmitter, we are going to stamp it out. The international community say this and that, it doesn't interest me at all. They will see the power of the Government of the Republic of Turkey. This has nothing to do with freedom. Freedom is not invading someone's privacy, freedom is not using channels like this to expose government secrets. We will not let this happen, we will move quickly. It is a matter of my country's security. Those who want to introduce malice and disorder into my country, whether they be national or international, will find the Government of the Republic of Turkey and us against them.
Then tonight at about 11:30pm Twitter began to be banned in Turkey - begining with cell phone operators - with the explanation that it was a preventative measure based on a court order.
Some in Turkey are still able to reach the site by changing their DNS settings but the government has stated that new measures to prevent access to banned sites even if DNS settings are changed were being developed in accordance with a new law passed last month which regulates the internet in Turkey.
Excerpts and Links:
Turkey has blocked access to Twitter, hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to close down the social media platform.
“We now have a court order. We’ll eradicate Twitter. I don’t care what the international community says. Everyone will witness the power of the Turkish Republic,” Erdoğan said at his campaign rally in the western city of Bursa on March 20, 10 days before the upcoming local elections.
...
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/...
Hours after Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan threatened to shut down Twitter and other social media platforms, government has restricted access to Twitter in most parts of the country, citing a court ruling on Thursday.
During a rally, Erdoğan said he did not care about the international response, his latest outburst in an increasingly bitter election campaign.
Anger, threats and conspiracy theories have marked the run-up to the March 30 local elections, with Erdoğan battling a corruption scandal he says is orchestrated by his enemies, much of it waged via leaks on Twitter and YouTube.
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http://www.todayszaman.com/...