Twitter blocked in Turkey over graft recordings

Backed by a court order, Turkey has clamped a ban on Twitter. Prime minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan said on Thursday before the Twitter blackout that the government now had a court order.

Erdogan's government has been rocked by revelations of a scandal in social media.

Erdogan declared that Turkey would eradicate Twitter and he did not care what the international community said. He added, everyone would witness the power of the Turkish Republic.

Erdogan's showdown with Twitter had long been coming. In mid-2013, thousands protested against a proposed urban development of Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park, but many said the discontent was more rooted in the government's shift away from secularism and its recent crackdown on freedom of press and expression.

As in many countries, social media was instrumental in rallying the protesters, which included as many as 3.5 million people in a nation of 81 million. Outraged by the growing opposition to his administration, Erdogan called all social media the ''worst menace to society.''

Over the last few months, with the approaching elections social media Erdogan had become increasingly resentful and intolerant of social media. The fact, however remains that Erdogan, who doesn't follow anyone, has 4.17 million Twitter followers and has unleashed 3,043 tweets.

Two weeks ago, following the release of recordings which showed someone sounding like Erdogan telling his son to dispose of a large sum of cash, the prime minister's patience snapped. Calling the recordings a ''fabrication'' he ultimately blamed social media.

Turkey had in the past blocked access to YouTube, but this comes as the first ban on Twitter, which was instrumental in organising flash protests against the government last year.

A lawyers' association, has meanwhile, asked a court to overturn the ban, arguing it was unconstitutional and violated Turkish and European human rights laws.

The country's main opposition party also said it would seek a cancellation of the court order.

European Commission vice president Neelie Kroes criticised the Twitter ban in Turkey - a country that was seeking to join the EU as "groundless, pointless, cowardly." Stefan Fule, the EU commissioner in charge of enlargement, voiced concern over the development.

According to Lutfi Elvan, the minister in charge of transport and communications, his office was merely obeying court orders. The social network had been accused of violating "personal rights and the confidentiality of private lives" and he said access would be restored only when Twitter removed illegal content.

He said Turkey was not a country that banned the internet.