Wikipedia blocked in Turkey

The Turkish authorities have blocked access to all resources of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia in the country, including in foreign languages.

Currently, access to all language versions of Wikipedia is closed. The lockdown came into force at 8am on April 29. The reason for this decision has not yet been specified.

This was reported by tjournal.ru with reference to the publication Hurriyet, the information was confirmed by CNN Turk.

According to the publication, the blocking order was issued by the Information Technology and Communications Council.

In accordance with Law 5651 and as a result of a legal and technical assessment, administrative measures are taken against the site wikipedia.org.

Information Technology and Communications Council

Law 5651 in Turkey regulates relations and crimes on the Internet; the country's opposition has repeatedly criticized the document for restricting freedom of speech and citizens' access to information.

Those dissatisfied with the recent expansion of President Erdogan's powers edited articles about him on Wikipedia, calling him a dictator.

In December 2016, access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube was closed in Turkey due to a video of the execution of soldiers published by the Islamic State. In July 2015, Twitter was blocked in the country after publications containing photographs of the terrorist attack.