Turkey's PM Threatens Facebook/YouTube Over

[Turk.]

By Euronews.com 07/03 12:11 CET

Turkey?s under-fire prime minister has warned his government could ban Facebook and YouTube.

Tayyip Erdogan, speaking to Turkish broadcaster ATV, said the websites ?encourage every kind of immorality and espionage for their own ends?.

In a recording posted to YouTube on Thursday, Erdogan is purportedly heard berating a newspaper owner over the telephone about an article and suggesting the journalists involved should be sacked.

It comes amid a major probe into corruption of the PM?s allies. Erdogan responded by sacking hundreds of police officers.

Erdogan, speaking ahead of key elections later this month for his Islamist-rooted AK Party, said: ?We are determined on this subject. We will not leave this nation at the mercy of YouTube and Facebook.

?We will take the necessary steps in the strongest way,? he said, adding that these would come after municipal elections set for March 30.

Asked if a ban on these sites could be included among the planned measures, he said: ?Included, because these people or institutions encourage every kind of immorality and espionage for their own ends.?

There was no immediate reaction from Facebook or YouTube.

Turkey banned YouTube for more than two years until 2010 after users posted videos the government deemed insulting to the republic?s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

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