Turkish Foreign Minister says Twitter and YouTube did not respect Turkish judiciary

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that social networking sites Twitter and YouTube did not respect Turkish judicial orders and that every state has the right to take necessary measures to protect its national security and citizens from internal and external threats.

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle, on the sidelines of the meeting in Brussels between the foreign ministers of NATO, Davutoglu said “the social networking sites Twitter and YouTube violated human rights in Turkey and did not respect the decisions of the Turkish judiciary, which cannot be accepted by the Turkish government.”

The Turkish minister explained that his government had requested for Twitter to respect the Turkish judiciary orders and clear some tweets and close some accounts but the site refused to respect the court’s decisions, prompting the Turkish government to temporarily close it.

Not long afterwards, a recorded discussion between top officials on potential military action in Syria was leaked on YouTube, and the government temporarily shut down the video service as well, launching an investigation.

Davutoglu pointed out that the foreign ministers of NATO congratulated him on the victory of his Justice and Development party in the local elections on Sunday, as well as the elections’ integrity.