Claiming that they have been abused by his political enemies, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could ban Facebook and YouTube after local elections on March 30, Reuters reported.
Erdogan is locked in a power struggle with U.S.-based Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally who he said is behind a stream of "fabricated" audio recordings posted on the Internet purportedly revealing graft in his inner circle.
"We are determined on this subject. We will not leave this nation at the mercy of YouTube and Facebook," Erdogan said in an interview late on Thursday with the Turkish broadcaster ATV. "We will take the necessary steps in the strongest way."
According to Reuters, asked if the possible barring of these sites was included in planned measures, he said, "Included."
His government, which has presided over more than a decade of strong economic growth and rising living standards in NATO member Turkey, is trying to be wrecked and discredited by the release of his purported conversations, Erdogan said.
Denying that he is using a network of protégés to try to influence politics in Turkey, Gulen rejected all allegations and denied any involvement in the recordings.
Five more recordings have appeared on YouTube this week, part of what Erdogan sees as a campaign to sully his ruling centre-right AK Party before the March 30 municipal elections and a presidential poll due later this year, Reuters reported.
In the latest recording, released on YouTube late on Thursday, Erdogan is purportedly heard suggesting the proprietor of Milliyet newspaper sack two journalists responsible for a front page story about Kurdish peace talk efforts.
Gulen's Hizmet's movement could have a criminal investigation launched against him, Erdogan signaled.
Asked on Thursday night whether Turkey could seek an Interpol red notice for the extradition of Gulen from the United States, Erdogan said, "why not?"
