Turkey Twitter ban lifted following constitutional court ruling

Turkey has lifted the controversial ban on Twitter following Wednesday’s constitutional court ruling, officials and media reports say.

Turkey’s constitutional court had told the country’s telecommunication authorities the two-week-old ban must be lifted as it was a breach of freedom of expression.

It may take a couple of hours for full access to Twitter to be restored.

Turkey has lifted the controversial ban on Twitter following constitutional court ruling (photo CBC)

PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan had vowed to “wipe out Twitter” after users spread allegations of corruption.

Users across the country found many ways of circumventing the prohibition, which was widely criticized and ridiculed.

Access to Twitter was blocked in Turkey in the run-up to local elections, which Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party won resoundingly.

Following the Twitter ban the government also banned access to YouTube, after a video on the website appeared to reveal top officials discussing how to stage an undercover attack inside Syria. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is heard asking about the possibility of sending tanks in.

The YouTube recording has not been verified as authentic, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan alleges that such recordings are being fabricated to turn people against him.