A Turkish court ordered the country’s telecommunications authority to restore access to Twitter only five days after the government blocked the social network in the country, the Dogan news agency and other media outlets reported.

The telecommunications authority had accused Twitter of disobeying a court order to remove some content.

Despite the official ban, users in Turkey quickly found ways to evade the restriction. The United States State Department announced that there have been more tweets coming from Turkey since the government attempted to shut down the social media site than before the ban, AFP reported.

Lawyers and members of the opposition party asked the courts to back down on the ban, claiming it was illegal and unconstitutional.

Turkey has received heavy criticism from the international community with Washington and France denouncing the move and urging the government to end the ban.

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul also publically objected the move and stated the government would soon end it.

“It is not legally possible to shut down the Internet and such platforms (as Twitter),” Abdullah Gul told reporters in Ankara before leaving for an official visit to the Netherlands, reported AFP.

It is widely believed that Prime Minister Erdogan banned the site, as he previously threatened to ban YouTube and Facebook to hush corruption allegations against himself and his closest allies, including his sons.



(Al Arabiya With AFP and AP)