06. 04. 2015

Turkey blocks access to "166 websites"

6.4.2015. (Beta, AFP, B92) - ANKARA -- Turkish authorities have ordered access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube blocked to prevent publication of images of a Turkish prosecutor killed last week.

Mehmet Selim Kiraz and his two captors linked to Marxist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party Front were killed after a shootout at a courthouse in Istanbul on Tuesday, AFP reported.

Turkey's telecommunications authority (TIB) on Monday enforced the ban via "an administrative measure."

Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported that a total of 166 websites that published the images have been blocked, among them Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

"A day after the standoff, Turkish prosecutors launched a probe into four newspapers for disseminating 'terrorist propaganda' after they published the controversial images," the French agency said.

A year ago Erdogan, then the country's prime minister, blocked access to Twitter and YouTube ahead of local elections, after audio recordings about alleged corruption in circles close to him surfaced on the internet.