Turkey has banned YouTube after an audio recording of Turkey’s foreign minister, its intelligence chief and an undersecretary of foreign affairs discussing a military incursion into Syria was leaked online, according to reports by Bloomberg News. The Turkish foreign minister called the act a “declaration of war” against the Turkish state.
Turkey’s location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes it a country of significant geostrategic importance. Islam is the dominant religion of Turkey; it exceeds 99% if secular people of Muslim background are included.
According to the Reuters news agency, who examined the recording, they said it could not verify its authenticity but it was potentially the most damaging purported leak so far as it appeared to have originated from the bugging of a highly confidential and sensitive conversation. Bloomberg news has reported that, there is no way to independently verify the authenticity of the recording or when it was made.
The government has imposed a temporary ban on the news about the recording, according to the website of Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog, and that Turkey’s telecommunications authority said it has blocked access to YouTube where the recording was posted. They did so without citing a reason.
USA Today reported that the Turkish foreign ministry claimed that the recording had been manipulated. According to France24.com, Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that the leaks are part of a plot orchestrated by his political enemies to undermine him ahead of the March 30 elections. At an election rally in Diyarbakir, Erdogan attacked the leak of the recording saying that it was “unethical, sordid and contemptible.” He also vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice, saying: “We’ll go after them in their lairs.” Between 2013-2014 there have been protests against what large sections of the Turkish public perceive is a growing authoritarianism of Erdogan and his government policies.
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