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Turkey blocks YouTube after Syria incursion plans leaked | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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The headlines of Turkish newspapers on Friday March 28, 2014, a day after Turkish authorities moved to block access to YouTube after an audio recording of a government security meeting was leaked on the video-sharing website. Some headlines read: ” Suleyman Shah Bomb; State Secrets Leaked; YouTube Blocked; Declaration of War; Meeting of Blood Lobby; Situation is Serious; Treason, Worse of Treason.” (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)


The headlines of Turkish newspapers on Friday March 28, 2014, a day after Turkish authorities moved to block access to YouTube after an audio recording of a government security meeting was leaked on the video-sharing website. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

The headlines of Turkish newspapers on Friday March 28, 2014, a day after Turkish authorities moved to block access to YouTube after an audio recording of a government security meeting was leaked on the video-sharing website. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Dubai, Reuters—Turkey defended its decision to block YouTube after a leaked recording of a meeting where top officials discussed a possible military incursion into Syria appeared on the site.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu Friday equated the leak to an “attack on Turkey’s borders” in an interview with NTV television. Davutoğlu said he had chaired the meeting with the head of national intelligence and other military and diplomatic officials to discuss how to respond to threats by Islamist militants against an enclave of Turkish territory inside Syria.

Some sections of the tape were “doctored,” the foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday.

The leaked tape is the latest in a series of recordings posted anonymously on the Internet since December, some of them allegedly from a police investigation, which have embroiled Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a corruption scandal and led to the departure of four cabinet ministers. It comes before weekend local elections, where Erdoğan is seeking a victory that he says will lay to rest the allegations of graft.

The premier blames supporters of US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen inside the police and judiciary for instigating the leaks to weaken his government.

Turkey’s telecommunications authority said Thursday it had blocked access to YouTube. The government also imposed a temporary ban on news about the recording, according to Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog.

Senior officials met to discuss policy on Syria after reports that Islamist militants had threatened to attack the tomb of Suleyman Shah.

The 1 hectare (2.47 acre) site on the Euphrates River has been Turkish territory since a 1921 treaty signed with colonial power France and later accepted by Syria. Turkey has reinforced its military positions along the border.

Erdoğan attacked the latest leak at an election rally in Diyarbakir Thursday, calling it “unethical, sordid and contemptible.” He vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice, saying: “We’ll go after them in their lairs.”

Under fire since the corruption investigation burst into the open in December, he has purged dozens of prosecutors and thousands of police, as well as imposing media curbs. Thursday’s YouTube shutdown follows similar measures against Twitter last week. The government says some of the recordings were assembled by montage.

“The corruption scandal was not enough to topple him, now they reveal some state secrets,” said Bayram Balci, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, in an e-mailed response to questions. “I have a doubt about the authenticity of all what we see and hear: the current battle is a survival battle for both sides.”

European Union officials, who had criticized the Twitter ban, slammed the restriction on YouTube. Neelie Kroes, vice president of the European Commission, called it “another desperate and depressing move” in a post on Twitter.

Marie Harf, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, declined to comment on the contents of the leaked recording when asked at a press conference Thursday.

“By banning Turkish social media, the government is running the risk of exiling itself from the global economy,” said James Jeffrey, a former US ambassador to Turkey and now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Turkey’s success has been based on integrating into the global economy.”

In the last days before Sunday’s vote, Erdoğan’s government has threatened military action in Syria, where it’s supporting rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Al-Assad, to protect the Suleyman Shah site. Turkey also shot down a Syrian warplane on March 23, saying it violated Turkish airspace. As Erdoğan vowed to defend Turkish interests, his political rivals have accused him of seeking to distract the public from the corruption scandal.