Twitter, US hail Turkish Constitutional Court ruling to unblock access

ISTANBUL

Turkey had blocked access to Twitter on March 20, hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to 'wipe out' the social media platform. REUTERS Photo

Twitter has hailed a Constitutional Court ruling stating the Turkish government’s decision to block access to the website violated the rights of users.

“We welcome this Constitutional Court ruling, and hope to have Twitter access restored in Turkey soon,” the social network tweeted both in English and in Turkish via its official account a few hours after the ruling on April 2.

The U.S. Department of State also welcomed the court ruling, urging Turkey to implement it without the shortest delay.

“If there has been a court decision, we think it needs to be implemented quickly, as quickly as possible,” said Department of State Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf during the daily press briefing.

The U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Francis Ricciardone, also expressed his satisfaction following the ruling, describing it as “great news” in remarks quoted by daily Hürriyet.

Turkey blocked access to Twitter on March 20, hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to “wipe out” the social media platform in a campaign speech, triggering widespread outcry.

The government subsequently widened the ban, practicing a controversial DNS policy, before moving to ban YouTube after the publication of leaked tapes.

The Ankara 15th Administrative Court had issued a stay of execution order for the Twitter block after a number of complaints were filed, but the decision was yet to be implemented by Turkey’s telecommunications authority (TİB).