Turkey’s Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun criticized Twitter’s decision to suspend thousands of state-linked accounts from Turkey, posting a statement on Twitter.
Twitter announced overnight the suspension of more than 7,000 state-linked accounts from Turkey, calling them part of a government propaganda tool.
“The company’s allegations that those accounts were ‘fake’ profiles designed to support the president and that they were single-handedly managed by a central authority are untrue,” Altun said, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
He said documents Twitter cited to support its decision were illogical, biased and politically motivated.
“That a US-based company would seek to legitimize its decisions with reference to a report, which was authored by certain individuals peddling their ideological views as scientific data, is a scandal of historic proportions,” he claimed.
Altun also criticized the tech company for being used by “anti-Turkey elements,” such as the outlawed Kurdish militia and the faith-based Gülen movement, which is accused of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt despite its strong denial of any involvement.