Turkey’s biggest fixed line operator, Türk Telekom, on Thursday mentioned “misfunction in fibre optic cable” within Syria for Internet service cuts to the civil destroyed country.
The company brought out a written affirmation to tell the reason why they stopped supplying Internet to Syria was due to substructure problems experienced in Turkey’s southern neighbor. The statement abides by earlier reports that told Türk Telekom had cut the Internet connection to Syria without citing any explanation. “These reports don’t reflect reality. … It’s true that we have been feeling troubles in supplying Internet service to Syrian customers since Aug. 11. All the same, Türk Telekom has never intervened to cut Internet service to this country,” the company told.
Reports told on Wednesday that Türk Telekom had withdrawn Internet services to Syria. The Associated Press cited a firm which tracks the footpaths of the Internet as stating a Chinese company was keeping destroyed Syria connected to the Internet, while other telecommunications companies, including a Turkish firm, withdrew.
The Syrian government finally checks the Internet connection to the outside world, but it is a major path for freedom fighter communications and news from the country as the civil war compounds. Hong Kong-based PCCW Ltd. is now carrying most of the Internet traffic to and from Syria, in accordance with Renesys Corp., a Manchester, New Hampshire, company studying the structure of the Internet. PCCW has shouldered the load as Türk Telecom, the main phone company in neighboring Turkey, dropped away Aug. 12. It is not clear what killed its connections to Syria, but Turkey has protested the Syrian regime’s actions. China is one of Syria’s few international allies. Renesys said Tuesday that Telecom Italia of Italy and Deutsche Telekom of Germany also carry some Syrian Internet traffic, but the Italian company’s share is declining for unknown reasons. Türk Telecom and Telecom Italia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
