Turkey Blocks YouTube
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Turkish authorities ordered the shutdown of the video-sharing site YouTube, as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan denounced as "villainous" the leaking of a recording of top security officials discussing possible military action in Syria to that site.
Erdogan's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, called the posting a "declaration of war," an apparent reference to an escalating power struggle between Erdogan and rivals.
The anonymous posting was an audio file with photographs of the officials involved.
It followed similar releases on social media in recent weeks that Erdogan has cast as a plot by his political enemies, particularly a Turkish cleric based in the US, to unseat him ahead of March 30 elections.
According to Reuters, the posting took the campaign to a higher level, impinging on a highly sensitive top-level meeting of security officials.
"They even leaked a national security meeting," Erdogan said at a campaign rally. "This is villainous, this is dishonesty... Who are you serving by doing audio surveillance of such an important meeting?"
The account posted what it presented as a recording of intelligence chief Hakan Fidan discussing possible military operations in Syria with Davutoglu, Deputy Chief of military Staff Yasar Guler and other senior officials.
