ANKARA
Turkey's Constitutional Court has ruled that an ongoing block on access to YouTube constitutes rights violations, signaling access would be restored soon.
The U.S.-based video-sharing website had filed a complaint to the court via its attorney in Turkey, demanding the ban be lifted.
The Union of Turkish Bar Associations and deputies from main opposition Republican People’s Party had also lodged separate complaints.
Having assessed the appeals, the court decided that the ban constitutes a breach of the freedom of expression.
The block is expected to be removed when the ruling reaches the Ministry of Communication and the telecoms authority.
The authority introduced an "administrative" block on YouTube late March after a illegally wiretapped recording of a top security meeting -- where high-ranking Turkish officials including the foreign minister were discussing threats against a Turkish territory in Syria -- was posted on the video-sharing website.
The block was lifted by a court in Ankara a week later, but the decision was overturned on the grounds that YouTube had not removed links hosting allegedly illegal content.
In early April, Turkey lifted a separate block on micro-blogging site Twitter following a similar order from the Constitutional Court.
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