Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed Twitter for demonstrations in Istanbul, saying social media was “the worst menace to society”.
“There is now a menace which is called Twitter, the best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society,” Erdogan said on Turkish television.
Early this morning more demonstrations occurred outside the prime minister’s office, with protesters claim Erdogan does not listen to anyone, including his own party members
“The Turkish media have embarrassed themselves. While the whole world was broadcasting from Taksim Square, Turkish television stations were showing cooking shows. It is now very clear that we do not have press freedom in Turkey,”Koray Caliskan, a political scientist at Istanbul’s Bosphorus University, told the Guardian
Erdogan called the protesters an “extremist fringe” and blamed the opposition Republican People’s Party for inciting the protests.
He today said at a news conference at Istanbul Ataturk Airport: “Be calm, relax, all this will be overcome”.
