Twitter refuses Turkish government's request for cooperation

PanARMENIAN.Net - Twitter refused the Turkish government's request for cooperation during the Gezi Park protests, Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Binali Yıldırım stated on Wednesday, June 26, according to Today’s Zaman.

Yıldırım said that unlike Twitter, Facebook has been in cooperation with the Turkish government for a long time; however, due to time zone differences between the U.S. and Turkey, cooperation can be difficult.

The Gezi Park demonstrations erupted across Turkey after riot police cracked down on May 31 on protesters who had been camping in the park, which lies next to Istanbul's famed Taksim Square, to oppose government plans to remove trees and develop over the green space.

During the three-week protests, there were allegedly dozens of fake stories and photographs shared on social media websites, especially on the Twitter. In response, İstanbul governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu and many Turkish ministers started using Twitter actively during the protests.

The Turkish government recently stated that it is planning to bring out a law to regulate social media. Interior Minister Muammer Güler highlighted that the proposed law will not impose any restrictions on social media but aims to halt what he called online “terrorism.”

He said his ministry is working with the Justice Ministry to enact a new law which will enable authorities to investigate and prosecute individuals who publish false and provocative online posts.