(CNN) -- You've probably heard that the Turkish government's attempt to ban Twitter quickly collapsed into farce. From USA Today: "More than 2.5 million tweets -- or over 17,000 per minute -- were reportedly posted (from Turkey) in the first 24 hours after the ban, according to several media reports. HootSuite, a Vancouver, Canada-based startup that measures and analyzes Twitter marketing campaigns, said in a corporate blog post that its traffic from Turkey tripled in the first day after the ban. So ... all is good, right? Not right. Turkey is a NATO ally, a candidate for membership in the European Union, a front-line state facing Iran, Syria and Russia -- and it is heading seriously in the wrong direction. A lot of people have invested a lot of time and effort denying that unwelcome news. It can be denied no longer.
@highlight
David Frum: Turkey once gave people hope for the future of democracy in Islamic nations
@highlight
He says voters have repeatedly backed prime minister Erdogan's path for Turkey
@highlight
After corruption scandal and criticism, Erdogan sought to shut off Twitter
@highlight
Frum: U.S., allies can no longer count on Turkey as a stable force in a crucial region
Turkey's @placeholder-banning prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, came to power after a big election win in 2002.