The Turkish government banned YouTube on Thursday, less than a week after Ankara made a similar blackout of the social networking site Twitter, which is estimated to have more than 10 million Turkish users. Neither website can be reached on Turkish Internet networks. The crackdown comes just days before Turks are expected to go to the polls in nationwide municipal elections. The Turkish government said its YouTube block came as a response to the leak of a conversation between top government officials purportedly discussing the possibility of going to war with neighboring Syria. Turkey's top media regulating agency announced a similar ban on the broadcast of the conversation to television and radio channels.
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Turkish authorities have blocked YouTube days after banning Twitter
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Government action comes after alleged conversations about war with Syria are leaked
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The leak is "a despicable attack, an act of espionage," the Foreign Ministry says
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Google, which owns YouTube, is looking into the blocking, a spokesperson says
The recording suggests a major security breach within the halls of the country's @placeholder.