Baku, Azerbaijan, April 7
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The U.S. is dissatisfied with the blocking of access to YouTube in Turkey and hopes that the access to the social network will be unblocked in this country, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Francis Ricciardone said in his interview to Turkish Hurriyet newspaper.
During the municipal elections in Turkey, some developments, namely blocking of access to Twitter microblogging network and YouTube social network took place, which can negatively affect the bilateral relations between this country and the U.S., according to the diplomat.
"Turkey is a democratic country, as well as a reliable partner of the U.S. and the U.S. hopes that Ankara will unblock the access to YouTube social network in coming days," the ambassador said.
The access to YouTube social network in Turkey was blocked again on April 5.
Previously, the access to YouTube video service was unblocked in Turkey in accordance to the court decision.
The audio of a secret meeting on the situation in Syria which involved the heads of the intelligence service and the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces was uploaded on to YouTube on March 27. Subsequently YouTube access was blocked in Turkey.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said that this leaking of information is in the interests of the Syrian regime, terrorist groups and Al Qaeda.
"This actually equates to a declaration of war," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on March 28 while commenting on this situation.
"The country will do everything possible to reveal and punish the perpetrators of such acts," Davutoglu added.
Moreover, Davutoglu stressed that the wiretapping of the Turkish power structures conversation equates to espionage against the country.
Earlier, the access to Twitter microblogging network was also unblocked in Turkey.
Translated by L.Z.
Edited by C.N.