YouTube appeals to Turkey top court over ban

YouTube has appealed to Turkey’s Constitutional Court to lift a ban that Ankara has imposed on the video sharing website.

An unnamed source familiar with the case said on Monday that the appeal asks the court to “immediately” lift the ban on the site.

YouTube was blocked in Turkey on March 27 after the release of an audio recording revealing a discussion among top Turkish security officials about a possible false-flag operation to justify a military offensive against Syria.

The Turkish government condemned the leak on YouTube as an act of “espionage” and said it had created “a national security issue.”

A court in Ankara lifted the Turkish government’s ban on YouTube on April 4, saying the move violated human rights.

The court, however, backtracked later on the decision and said the ban would remain until the audio recordings of the security meeting are removed.

The ban on YouTube has been part of a wider crackdown on social media in the run-up to March 30th local elections by the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) won a majority of the local government seats in the vote despite recent graft allegations and a harsh police crackdown on anti-government protesters last June.

Ankara also blocked access to Twitter on March 20, after it was used to spread corruption allegations against the premier and his inner circle. The Constitutional Court lifted the ban on April 3.

Amnesty International has described the internet bans in Turkey as a “crude attempt at government censorship that will only generate deeper distrust and frustration.”