Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he had to comply with the Turkish high court ruling this week to unblock Twitter, but he does not respect it.

Turkey blocked access to the social media website two weeks ago after some users posted links suggesting government corruption.

Mr Erdogan had vowed to "rip out the roots" of Twitter for allowing the postings. The government lifted the ban on a day after the court ruling.

Today the prime minister said of the court's decision: "I don't have to respect it. I don't respect it."

He said the court was protecting a tool of foreign influence, saying that Twitter is "the product of an American company".

He added: "All of our moral values are being set aside."

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.