Wikipedia Sues Turkey In European Court Of Human Rights Over Website Ban - Reports

The Wikipedia online encyclopedia has taken Turkey to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over a ban that Ankara imposed in 2017 on the website, media reported on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd May, 2019) The Wikipedia online encyclopedia has taken Turkey to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over a ban that Ankara imposed in 2017 on the website, media reported on Thursday.

The Wikimedia Foundation, which controls Wikipedia, said that the Turkish blanket ban on the website was violating the right to freedom of expression, the Financial Times newspaper reported.

According to the chief executive of Wikimedia, Katherine Maher, the decision to go to the ECHR was made after two years of negotiations with Ankara and an unsuccessful legal battle in the Turkish highest court.

Turkey banned all language editions of the Wikipedia website in April 2017, less than a year after the 2016 failed coup. According to Wikimedia, the decision was made by Ankara after the encyclopedia refused to remove two articles about the Syrian war and state-sponsored terrorism at the relevant request. Ankara explained the refusal by claiming that the the online encyclopedia contained terror-related content.