The embattled Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, which has been the subject of graft allegations, on Thursday banned access to YouTube shortly after banning Twitter, canceling the nationwide broadcasting license of one station and issuing a record number of penalties to another, Today’s Zaman reports.

The Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) on Thursday afternoon blocked access to popular video sharing platform YouTube hours after a leaked voice recording allegedly featuring the voices of Turkey's foreign minister, intelligence chief and a top army general discussing the developments in neighboring war-torn Syria was uploaded onto the site.

In the voice recording, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu and Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler are heard discussing a possible intervention in Syria and potential reactions from the world.

The ban comes a week after Twitter was blocked by the TİB in a move widely seen as a response to leaked voice recordings posted on the micro-blogging site that seem to implicate Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, his close family members and some members of his government in large-scale corruption. However, Twitter's block might be lifted soon, according to Deputy Prime Minister Emrullah İşler.

The 15th Ankara Administrative Court on Wednesday issued an injunction on Turkey's Twitter ban, saying it runs ‘contrary to the principles of the rule of law.’ The ban had not been lifted as of Thursday, but İşler said in televised remarks: ‘To my knowledge, Twitter has carried out the demands of TİB and there are only a few remaining issues. When those issues are resolved, Twitter will be completely unblocked.’

The YouTube ban comes only one day after the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) canceled the nationwide broadcasting license of the Kanaltürk television station. Kanaltürk, owned by İpek Media, will now only be allowed to broadcast in the Marmara region. Reports said the five AK Party members of RTÜK voted for the cancellation, while Republican People's Party (CHP) members Ali Öztunç and Süleyman Demirkan and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) member Esat Çıplak objected to the body's decision.

The RTÜK penalty came days after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to finish off the Hizmet movement -- inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen -- and its associates, including Samanyolu Haber TV.

İpek Media Group head Fatih Karaca, who is also a former chairman of RTÜK, said the decision was against the law. ‘I have never spoken about any RTÜK action since I left as chairman of the board in July 2005, but I have to enlighten the public on this,’ he said on Kanaltürk's afternoon news program.

He said before Kanaltürk was bought by İpek Media in 2008, there was a lawsuit ongoing regarding Kanaltürk's nationwide broadcasting rights launched in 2007. In 2011, after changes to the RTÜK law, the new management of Kanaltürk went to court, winning decisions in its favor from the 2nd Administrative Court and later the Council of State. ‘The decision [to cancel the national license] is based on a trial from eight years ago based on a law that is no longer in force.’

He said he hoped the decision was the result of a misunderstanding but also noted it had been taken without a statement in writing from the RTÜK Legal Undersecretariat and apparently in haste. ‘I was notified at 12:40 a.m. this morning,’ he said.

Karaca said the nationwide broadcast license only relates to analog land frequency broadcasts which account for less than 1 percent of the station's audience. He said the license does not concern digital, cable or satellite broadcasts but noted that there was an attempt to create a misunderstanding.

He said news stories that Kanaltürk can now only be accessed in the Marmara region were untrue, adding that an advertising agency had e-mailed companies this false information as well. He said the company, which he did not name, and the RTÜK board will be held legally responsible for any financial losses Kanaltürk might incur due to the wrong perception created by the decision.

Karaca also said Kanaltürk has filed an application for a review, and he believes the decision will be reversed after RTÜK reviews it.

The move to cancel Kanaltürk's license comes shortly after RTÜK issued 36 broadcast suspension penalties for several programs of the Samanyolu Haber TV news station.

Commenting on the recent developments, Nationalist Party Movement (MHP) Ankara deputy Özcan Yeniçeri said recent developments, such as the ban on Twitter and leaked recordings allegedly proving that Erdoğan dictated the headlines of the Habertürk daily through government press commissioner Fatih Saraç, clearly demonstrate the prime minister's attitude towards society's access to news.

Yeniçeri further noted: ‘RTÜK meting out a deluge of penalties to networks that are not part of the chorus that broadcasts all of the prime minister's speeches uninterruptedly is a sign of a one-man regime. The pressure and intimidation on some of the media is reminiscent of [Josip] Tito's Yugoslavia. He is trying to find excuses to disable the institutions that he cannot shut down.’

‘As the single-party and one-man mentality is out there, his allies and the bureaucrats that are helping Erdoğan are also responsible for what's going on. At a time when freedoms are under threat and the principles of democracy and human rights are being destroyed, it is impossible not to expect to step up pressure on the media. But with these actions Erdoğan and his accomplices are losing legitimacy.’

Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Gürsel Tekin said the government is ready to risk a war with Syria in an attempt to minimize the corruption scandal. ‘Unfortunately in this state of emergency they have started, the rule of law has been suspended. It is obvious that the AKP, which is enforcing its own laws, will prevent information from being disseminated to the public.’

He said punishing networks that broadcast the news against ‘hired people who disseminate propaganda for Erdoğan’ is an indication that a ‘one-man regime’ is in place. ‘There is no legal basis or convincing reason for canceling the license of a national network,’ Tekin said.

CHP Konya deputy Atilla Kart, who is a member of the parliamentary Constitution Commission, said: ‘We are faced with an administration that is prepared to carry out any illegality to make sure that graft evidence doesn't make its way to the public. We are faced with a government that doesn't hesitate to manufacture evidence in order to prevent people from receiving information. All these illegal actions are being carried out for personal and political interests.’

He said Kanaltürk is making an effort to ensure that the public is properly informed. ‘Intolerance towards publishing and broadcasting in line with the principles of journalism has become the motto of the government.’ He described the point Turkey has reached as ‘extremely worrying’ in terms of societal and regional peace, claiming the government has shown it will not hesitate to go to war with Syria to protect its own interests.

Meanwhile, in a statement regarding the penalties, Samanyolu Media Group head Hidayet Karaca said, ‘These incredible penalties issued against our institution just ahead of elections which are taking place amidst graft and illegality scandals have a special meaning.’

Thirty-six suspension penalties -- all related to broadcasting about the local elections -- is a record number of penalties in the history of Turkey's television broadcasting, according to a tweet from Samanyolu Haber TV Editor-in-Chief Metin Yıkar, who also noted that the news program at Samanyolu Haber TV -- whose broadcast has been suspended -- would be broadcasted on Samanyolu TV.

Hidayet Karaca said: ‘With this last decision, RTÜK has clearly shown the kind of instrument of pressure on the media it has turned into at the hands of the government. The purpose of the penalties is clearly understood by the people.’ He said the Samanyolu Media Group will continue broadcasting honest and impartial news but said those who are behind the illegal actions of today will be remembered as ‘dark stains’ on the country's democracy.

MHP Deputy Chairwoman Ruhsar Demirel said the government was finding new ways of censorship. ‘The government, which is increasing pressure in every sphere, is doing all that it can to limit freedom to access news and information. It is demonstrating that it won't hesitate to resort to all kinds of illegal actions,’ she said.

She noted that the cancellation of licenses and suspensions not only violate fundamental rights, but also intervene in free trade. ‘Can these illegalities that local businesses are subjected to attract foreign investors? Erdoğan doesn't care about the league of countries that Turkey, isolated from the rest of the world to such an extent, has fallen into. He has other targets. People close to him are also complicit in this.’