Minister says Twitter turned down cooperation offer over Turkey protests

ISTANBUL

Minister Yıldırım. AA Photo

The state's offer to cooperate with social media micro-blogging website Twitter over the Gezi Park protests has not been received positively by the company, Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Binali Yıldırım said today, Anadolu Agency has reported. 

Yıldırım said the same offer had also been made to Facebook, and that the company had responded "positively" and was currently is in cooperation with the state. 

Twitter however turned down the offer, according to Yıldırım. 

Protesters often communicated through Twitter and Facebook during the protests, posting pictures and status updates at a time when mainstream media chose to give little coverage to the events. 

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in particular, was annoyed by the involvement of social media in the anti-government movement and even branded Twitter a "nuisance" to society. 

Police forces also conducted raids based on Twitter posts following the events, detaining dozens before releasing them due to the nature of their tweets, which were claimed to be provocative. Rumors of state intervention over the website have been going on since the events erupted.