Turkey
Turkish Court moves to block YouTubePosted Sep 20 2007
A Turkish court has again asked for access to the video-sharing website YouTube to be blocked, claiming that it insulted the nation's leaders, according to the Agence-France Presse.
The court ruling from Sept 18 was sent to the state regulatory body, the Telecommunications Board, to be put into effect.
The decision came after a resident of the eastern city of Sivas complained that the site contained insults against Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the army.
The country's largest telecommunications provider, Turk Telekom, blocked YouTube in March due to a clip that allegedly insulted Ataturk, a national hero who proclaimed modern day Turkey in 1923.
Access was restored two days later, when YouTube removed the video and Turk Telekom petitioned the court to revoke the ban.
After the Sept. 18 ban, YouTube released a written statement saying that it was ready to cooperate with Turkish authorities to resolve the current dispute, according to the AFP.
Related links: Agence-France Presse, Youtube