Yesterday in a publication we mentioned that Turkey decided to excludes access to Wikipedia, to protect national security. It seems that the problem encountered was that the online encyclopedia refused to remove content which the Turkish government believes can tarnish the country.
According to the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, access to Wikipedia was restricted because the by clicking here hosts articles and comments who claim that Turkey coordinates terrorist groups.
So the government service has decided to use an administrative command to exclude the site, based on the 5651 law, which allows the government to regulate content on the internet in the broadest possible way.
Wikipedia was asked to remove the content that upset Turkish officials, but the company declined.
The cofounder Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales posted on Twitter that access to information is a fundamental human right.
"Turks, I will always stand with you and fight for your right," Wales wrote.
Exclusion seems to have occurred around 8 am. local time on Saturday morning, Turkey Group Blocks said.
In recent years, Turkey has toughened its attitude towards every freedom of speech. The government of the country has blocked too many sites from time to time, such as Wikileaks, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Social media have generally been hampered in times of social unrest. In addition, many journalists have been arrested, while others have been imprisoned because they have expressed some view of Erdogan.
This new embargo proves once again that Turkish citizens are losing basic human rights and that anyone who tries to criticize the country's president will be punished.
