Erdogan addressed an election rally in the western province of Bursa on Thursday, saying, "We will wipe out Twitter. I don't care what the international community says."

"They will see the Turkish republic's strength," he added.

Turkey, which has more than 10 million Twitter users, has seen access to thousands of sites blocked in recent years.

Earlier in the month, Erdogan said in an interview with Turkish media that his administration would consider shutting down the video-sharing website YouTube and the social media network Facebook after local elections which are scheduled to be held on March 30.

Last month, Turkey adopted a controversial Internet law that allows the government to block websites without a court ruling.

Under the law, the Telecommunications Directorate (TIB) will be able to block access to websites deemed to violate privacy or to have “insulting” content without a court order. The TIB could also request users’ communications and traffic information from providers with no court ruling.

BA/BA