Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatens to ban Facebook and YouTube in Turkey

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that his government could ban Facebook and YouTube, arguing that opponents are using social media to attack him.

However, President Abdullah Gul later called such a ban “out of the question”.

Allegations of corruption against Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been repeated on the social media sites.

The leaks included a phone conversation in which, allegedly, he and his son discussed how to hide huge sums of money. Recep Tayyip Erdogan called it a montage.

The prime minister’s Islamist-rooted AK Party faces key local elections on March 30.

“We will not leave this nation at the mercy of YouTube and Facebook,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the Turkish broadcaster ATV.

“We will take the necessary steps in the strongest way.”

Asked if that could include barring the social media sites, he said: “Included.”

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the two sites were being used for “all kinds of immorality, all kinds of espionage”.

A major corruption investigation has targeted government allies of the prime minister – and he has responded by moving hundreds of police officers and prosecutors to other duties.