Turkish minister warns that companies uncooperative on cyber crime will receive ‘Ottoman slap’

ISTANBUL

Yıldırım warns that authorities which do not cooperate with the government over cyber crimes will receive an 'Ottoman slap' in response. AA photo

Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Binali Yıldırım has warned that authorities which do not cooperate with the government over cyber crimes will receive an “Ottoman slap” in response.

“The Turkish Republic doesn't recognize those who don’t recognize it,” Yıldırım said. “79 million [people] will hit them with an 'Ottoman slap.'”

The minister gave his message during a speech at a media conference, following the negative response of social media websites with regard to sharing data about posts made during the recent Gezi Park protests.

Yıldırım said the government was comfortable with the free use of the Internet, but added that using it as a tool for violence and crime was "unacceptable."

"They shouldn't behave swaggeringly, feeling as if millions of users stand on their side," he said, strongly hinting at micro blogging site Twitter.

Facebook and Twitter recently denied claims that they agreed to share data with the government regarding members' posts on the Gezi Park protests.