ISTANBUL - Turkish authorities moved to block access to YouTube on Thursday, the country’s state-run news agency said.
Turkey’s technology minister, Fikri Isik, said the national telecommunications authority was imposing the block “as a precaution” after an audio recording of a government-security meeting was leaked on the video-sharing website.
Despite the government’s actions, YouTube still was widely accessible after the announcement.
Key allies, including the U.S. and the European Union, had criticized an earlier move by Turkey against Twitter as a restriction of free speech and a step backward for Turkish democracy. That ban came shortly after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to “rip out the roots” of Twitter, which has been a conduit for links to recordings suggestinggovernment corruption.
Turkey holds local elections Sunday that are widely regarded as a referendum on Erdogan’s rule.
The ban against YouTube was announced after an audio recording of a meeting among Turkey’s foreign minister, intelligence chief, and top military and Foreign Ministry officials was leaked on YouTube. The four men can be heard discussing a military intervention in neighboring Syria, a sensitive political issue in Turkey, although the context of the conversation is not clear.
A Foreign Ministry statement said the meeting was held to discuss threats of a possible attack on a mausoleum in Syria - of the grandfather of the Ottoman Empire’s founder - which is considered Turkish territory and protected by Turkish troops.
A government official said access to YouTube was closed down out of “national security concerns and because of the urgency of the situation.” The official said the move aimed to prevent the “posting of other recordings that may threaten national security.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of government rules that bar civil servants from speaking to journalists without authorization. Erdogan railed against the audio leak.
“This is immoral, this is sleaze, this is shameful, this is dishonorable,” he said during a campaign rally.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the leak an act of espionage and an “open declaration of war against the Turkish republic.” In a statement, his office called eavesdropping on a top-secret meeting an attack on Turkey’s security and said those responsible would be severely punished.
The state-run Anadolu Agency reported that a chief prosecutor had launched an investigation into possible espionage over the YouTube leak, and the country’s media watchdog imposed a news blackout on the details of therecording.
Google Inc., which owns YouTube, said some users in Turkey weren’t able to access YouTube.
“There is no technical issue on our side, and we’re looking into the situation,” the company said in a statement.
The U.S.-based firm Renesys confirmed a partial blocking of YouTube while the number of posts mentioning Turkey and YouTube had multiplied several times on Twitter, according to the social media monitoring firm Brandwatch.
In one Twitter post, European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes called the block against YouTube “another desperate and depressing move in Turkey.”
“I express my support for all those supporters of real freedom and democracy,” she said. “We in Europe stand for an open Internet and free expression on it.”
The government’s attempted crackdown on Twitter came after links to other wiretapped recordings suggesting corruption were spread on the microblogging site.
Erdogan has confirmed that he personally ordered the block on Twitter, alleging that the company wasn’t following Turkish laws. Despite the block, many Turkish users have found ways to access the website.
A Turkish court ordered the telecommunications authority to restore access to Twitter on Wednesday. An official in Erdogan’s office said the government has 30 days to implement or appeal the ruling. Erdogan has blamed a movement led by U.S.-based moderate Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former political ally of Erdogan, for the leaks on social media.
Information for this article was contributed by Suzan Fraser of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 03/28/2014