By Emre Peker
ISTANBUL--Turkish authorities cut off access to Twitter Inc. on
Wednesday to block the spread of information about a suicide
bombing that has convulsed the country and to prevent unauthorized
demonstrations.
The Twitter blackout just hours after a court in the southern
province of Sanliurfa ordered the suppression of images and videos
on Monday's suicide bombing in Suruç, which killed at least 32
people and wounded more than 100 others. Turkish officials have
blamed the attack on the Sunni Muslim extremist group Islamic
State
Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said the ban was
triggered by the dissemination of information about the attack and
calls for what it described as "illegal mass demonstrations."
Turkey's Internet Service Providers Association delivered court
orders to Twitter, Facebook Inc. and Google Inc.'s video-sharing
website, YouTube, demanding the removal of attack-related content,
the news agency said.
While Facebook and YouTube quickly removed the banned content
and kept operating, Twitter was unable to immediately comply with
the order and shut down. The microblogging site would go back
online once it does so, Turkish officials said.
Twitter didn't respond to requests for comment.
In the past two years, the government has stepped up its efforts
to control Twitter, Facebook and Google, with the companies in many
cases complying with demands by authorities to remove content.
In April, a Turkish court temporarily blocked user access to
Twitter and YouTube for failing to remove content related to a
hostage crisis. Facebook was also hit with a brief interruption.
All the sites went back online within hours after complying with
the order.
Monday's attack near Turkey's border with Syria has been
condemned across the country. It has also sparked criticism of
Ankara's efforts to unseat Syrian President Bashar al- Assad, which
some critics say has drawn Islamist militant groups closer to
Turkey's border, if not into the country itself.
Opposition lawmakers have called for mass protests to condemn
terrorism and the government's foreign policy, while police have
deployed tear-gas and water cannons against demonstrating
government opponents.
Adding to tensions in Turkey, two police officers were shot dead
in Sanliurfa province, which encompasses Suruç. The shootings were
under investigation but they were unlikely to be related to
Islamist or Kurdish militant activity in the area, said Izzettin
Kucuk, the province's governor.
Sam Schechner in Paris contributed to this article.
Write to Emre Peker at emre.peker@wsj.com
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