Turkish Constitutional Court opens Twitter account amid gov’t criticism on removing ban

ISTANBUL

The Constitutional Court has created an official Twitter account amid the government’s repeated statements criticizing its decision to unblock the micro-blogging site.The Court’s Twitter address is @AYMBASKANLIGI, while it has a “follow us” button on its official website to guide visitors.The Constitutional Court has gained almost 30,000 followers so far.The only account it follows is Twitter’s Verified Accounts (@verified).Twitter was unblocked on April 3 after the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that the ban was a violation of free speech guaranteed by Article 26 of the Constitution, following individual complaints filed separately by Professor Dr. Kerem Altıparmak, Professor Yaman Akdeniz and Sezgin Tanrıkulu, deputy chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized the decision, saying that he “does not respect the ruling,” which he claimed “served the interests of Twitter instead of Turkey’s national interests.”In a written statement, the Justice Ministry said the high court was not a “super appeal court” with the authority to overturn the verdicts of primary law courts.