CRACKDOWN

Turkey Blocks Wikipedia With No Explanation

Amid criticism of the president’s controversial April 16 referendum.

Turkish authorities have blocked access to Wikipedia without giving any explanation for the move. In a brief statement issued by the country’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority, the government said “ an administrative measure has been taken for this website” after “technical analysis and legal consideration,” the BBC reported Saturday. The move comes amid heated debate in the country over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s April 16 referendum, which critics say gave the president an unprecedented amount of new powers despite being full of electoral violations. Some now say the government is attempting to silence criticism of Erdogan on Wikipedia by blocking access to the encyclopedia page. Turkey, ranked 155 out of 180 countries for press freedom by Reporters Without Borders, has previously blocked Facebook and Twitter amid public unrest and in the wake of terror attacks.