ANKARA
Turkey’s Prime Minister Rejep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Twitter of tax evasion and has pledged to launch probes into it and other foreign companies who profit unfairly in Turkey.
Speaking during the inauguration of a biological treatment facility in Istanbul, Erdogan said “Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are companies established to make profit; these companies are making money.”
“Like any other international company, these companies must also come and comply with tax rules in accordance with my country’s constitution and laws.”
Erdogan continued saying that the likes of Twitter had nothing to do with freedom and that the unblocking of Twitter was an 'intervention in politics and administration' after Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled, April 2, that the country’s ban on Twitter violated people’s right to freedom of expression and demanded access be restored after a two-week block.
Erdogan said he had criticized these companies because they did not respect “our sacred values, our shared national values, because they do not comply with judicial decisions and because they became tools for attacking our national security.”
englishnews@aa.com.tr
