The Ankara 15th Administrative Court has ordered a stay of execution on last week's decision by the Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) to block access to Twitter, Today’s Zaman reports.

Twitter was blocked in Turkey on Thursday night after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to “root it out,” stirring harsh reactions across the country and around the world and putting the ruling party's reputation in jeopardy ahead of the local elections.

The Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB), the Ankara Bar Association and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy Parliamentary Group Chair Oktay Vural appealed to the Ankara 15th Administrative Court over the decision of the TİB to block Twitter. The court made its decision to stay the execution, citing that according to the previous court order the ban was on access to some specific links on Twitter not on the entire site.

Reportedly, the TİB has the right to object to the decision by the court that for now invalidates the ban. Even if the TİB objects to the stay of execution decision of the Ankara court, the body initially has to remove the ban before a second decision on it is made.

Appeals over the ban have also been submitted to the Constitutional Court, which is expected to review the applications on Wednesday. On Tuesday Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu filed an application with the Constitutional Court, calling for a cancellation of the ban. The petition noted that the ban is a violation of free speech.

The decision came after Erdoğan said there might be possible bans on other social networks such as YouTube and Facebook.

The prime minister drew harsh criticism from international circles after he "ordered" a ban on Twitter in Turkey. He dismissed accusations of free speech suppression leveled against him by saying his move was securely founded on grounds that assaults, slanders and lies against the government were made on the social media site. He is widely believed to fear such content might adversely affect the government's reputation. Erdoğan further accused Twitter of applying double standards, shutting down accounts when the US or the UK demand it, but “defending freedom” when Turkey, Ukraine or Egypt have concerns.

While President Abdullah Gül spoke out against the ban, Erdoğan, in a rally with massed supporters, stood behind his move to block the platform on the grounds that social media users attack the government, which he apparently fears might affect the party's reputation ahead of the March 30 elections.