Court in Turkey suspends ban on Twitter

Turkish users of Twitter are expected to regain access shortly after a court ordered the suspension of the ban on the social media site.

The court in the capital, Ankara, issued a stay of execution on last week's decision by the country's telecommunication authority (TIB).

Once the court informs the TIB, the ban is expected to be lifted.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to "wipe out Twitter" after users spread allegations of corruption.

At a rally ahead of important local elections on Sunday, Mr Erdogan was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying: "I don't understand how people of good sense could defend this Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. There are all kinds of lies there."

A ban was imposed on Friday on the grounds that Twitter had failed to remove the allegations of corruption involving senior officials.

However, users found many ways of circumventing the prohibition, which was widely criticised and ridiculed.

A number of complaints were filed to courts, arguing the ban was illegal and unconstitutional.

The administrative court in Ankara issued a temporary injunction on Wednesday ordering the TIB to restore access to Twitter, the Associated Press reports.

While the TIB has a right to object to the injunction, access to Twitter should be reopened before a second decision is made, unnamed legal experts told Turkish daily Hurriyet in an article.

The private broadcaster NTV television was quoted by AFP news agency as saying the TIB was expected to grant access to Twitter in the coming hours.

ANN.Az