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Turkey’s top court has decided to include the head of the Union of Turkey’s Bar Associations (TBB) as a speaker at the ceremony marking the commencement of the new legislative year for 2014-2015 on Sept. 1, in defiance of President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has strictly dismissed the idea of running as a candidate in the upcoming presidential election, vowing to stick to his decision come hell or high water.

The Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) unblocked access to YouTube on June 3, some 67 days after a ban that triggered global criticism of the Turkish government’s tightening grip on the Internet.

The Constitutional Court ruled on May 29 that the ruling to block YouTube violated the rights of users and freedom of speech.