Baku, Azerbaijan, March 27
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The social network Twitter is using double standards towards Turkey, according to the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister, Emrullah Isler.
He said Twitter has to fulfill the demands of the government of Turkey, Turkish newspaper Milliyet reported on March 27.
The deputy prime minister said that two years ago over 350,000 tweets, inciting anti-Semitism in France, were removed by Twitter in accordance with the French government's decision.
On March 21, Turkey blocked the access to the microblogging network Twitter. The access was blocked a few hours after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a statement about such a possibility.
He said the issue of banning YouTube and Facebook may be included in the agenda if needed, in order to protect Turkish citizens from external influences.
However Turkish President Abdullah Gul made a statement about the impossibility of banning YouTube and Facebook. He also said a total ban on Twitter in Turkey can not be considered.
Microblogs on Twitter were blocked in Turkey by a court decision, Turkish media outlets said.
It was also reported that Turkey demanded Twitter delete the tweets that are against Turkish statehood, however the company has not yet responded.
Translated by E.A.
Edited by S.M.