Ankara court grants stay of execution for YouTube ban

Ahmet CAN ISTANBUL / Hürriyet

A Turkish court in Ankara has granted a stay of execution for a ban on YouTube following an appeal by the company’s lawyer, Gönenç Gürkaynak.

Access to YouTube was blocked March 27 by Turkey’s Telecommunications Authority (TİB) without being supported by a court decision, hours after recordings of a key security meeting on Syria were leaked online.

The decision by Ankara’s 4th Administrative Court paves the way for a lifting of the ban on the popular video-sharing website.

The TİB could unblock the website or object to the court decision.

YouTube’s lawyer is expected to make an individual complaint to the Constitutional Court if the TİB appeals the decision.

The Gölbaşı Court of Peace ordered on April 4 that access to the website be unblocked following an appeal from the Union of Turkish Bars Associations, but the decision was ignored.

The ban on YouTube, less than a week after a similar move against Twitter, added more fuel to the outrage against the government’s tightening grip on the Internet after it empowered the TİB with the authority to block access regardless of a court order.