“Of course we have to implement the Constitutional Court’s decision, but I don’t respect it. I do not respect this decision.”
On Friday morning on March 21st, the supervisory board of Turkey’s telecommunications BTK announced that access to Twitter has been blocked, according to court’s decision. The exact previous day, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during his election speech: “We will root out the twitter and everything like that and I don’t care at all what the international community would say. Everyone will appreciate the power of the Turkish Republic.” The Turkish Prime Minister has been referred to the closing of social network platforms in the past, after videos of private talks have been leaked in YouTube. The scandals that were exposed through social media mentioned bribes, corruption scandals and extramarital affairs.
The closure of Twitter as well as provocative statements by the Turkish leader caused a lot of reactions from the international community. Despite the strong protest that accused him for censorship the Turkish Prime Minister remained faithful to his decision and a week later he proceeded to the shutting down of YouTube. Nevertheless, the Ankara Court requested the removal of the YouTube operating ban, which was imposed last week by the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after the disclosure of confidential content meeting on Syria, which Turkish media reported.
This decision comes at the same time as the request to unblock the access to Twitter, after the decision of the Turkish Constitutional Court, which states that this authoritarian act of the Turkish government violates freedom of expression. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the Constitutional Court of Turkey that ruled illegal the government’s decision to exclude access to Twitter, forcing the government to withdraw the measure.
“Of course we have to implement the Constitutional Court’s decision, but not to respect it. I do not respect this decision, “the Turkish Prime Minister said to reporters before leaving for Azerbaijan.
Erdogan added that the decision of the Superior Court violates “the national values” of Turkey.
Despite the corruption scandals, the protests about closing the Twitter and YouTube, as well as the mass demonstrations of last summer in the park Geza Istanbul, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintains its electoral strength at around 45%, according to the results of local elections. The AKP remains the strongest power in Turkey, and like everything shows, it increases its rates compared to 2009 elections.
So, as shown above, the acts and statements of the Turkish political leader doesn’t cost more than 5% of the electoral base. Turkish citizens have shown by voting in local elections that they are by the side of Erdogan, and don’t seem to have been affected by any of his extreme actions. Nevertheless, the image of Turkey abroad is damaged, supports an article in French «Le Figaro»; Erdogan’s attack against Twitter “resulted in the loss of the last reliability stocks that remained for him on the international scene.” The same article comments that “Since last summer riots, when thousands of people went on the streets to denounce the authoritarian tendencies of the government, social media are used to organize the opposition parties. Cyberspace has taken the place of public space, which is tightly controlled by the authorities.” But representatives of the European authorities and governments have not hesitated to send their own messages to Erdogan, using … what else? The popular social network he so furiously dislikes. “In a free society the choice of communication means belongs to the citizens, not to state. #Turkey”, wrote the representative of the German government Stephen Zaimpert on his Twitter account.
The recent events bring back to the scene questions about whether the introduction of digital media can help to make democratic states like Turkey or Egypt.
Raniou Vivi, Student, International and European Studies