"What we have seen in the last weeks in Turkey, the curbing of the freedom of opinion and information, has irritated a lot of European partners - us too," said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Saturday after the EU foreign ministers meeting in Athens.
He also said that a country that is “in accession negotiations with the EU cannot limit the freedom of opinion and media."
Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, said the European ministers raised their concerns with Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu earlier in the day.
Turkey has been seeking to gain accession to the 28-member European bloc since 2005, but its bid has been thwarted by vehement opposition from key members --France and Germany.
Ankara blocked access to Twitter on March 20, after it was used to spread corruption allegations against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his inner circle.
A court, however, ruled on Thursday to remove the government ban on Twitter.
YouTube was blocked on March 27 after the release of an audio recording revealing a discussion among top Turkish security officials about a possible false-flag operation to justify a military offensive against Syria.
The block on access to YouTube remained in place after a court backed off from an earlier ruling to remove the site’s ban.
Ashton expressed hope that the situation would change in Turkey following the country’s local elections in which Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development party (AK) won a majority of the local government seats.
"We made it clear that social media plays an incredibly important part in the life of all communities, including Turkey," she added.
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on TikTok
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on X
PHOTO - 
