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Alert

Authorities block another website following complaint by religious leader; others unblocked

(BIANET/IFEX) - The judiciary in Turkey has again blocked access to a website because of the content of one item on the site. Following the blocking of the alternative dictionary website "Eksisözlük" (literally, "sour dictionary"; http://sozluk.sourtimes.org/Default.asp? ) and the website Antoloji.com ( http://www.antoloji.com/ ), access to the website WordPress.com ( http://wordpress.com/ ) has now also been blocked, following a complaint by religious sect leader Adnan Oktar.

A civil court of first instance in Fatih, Istanbul decreed in decision 2007/195 that access to the platform WordPress.com, which includes several Internet diaries, should be blocked.

Internet users trying to access the site are met with the sentence "Access to this site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/195 of T.C. Fatih 2.Civil Court of First Instance", both in Turkish and English.

The popular Internet dictionary "Eksisözlük" was closed on 17 April by a civil court in Eyüp, Istanbul, on the grounds that it included writings that violated Oktar's personal rights. A week before, the news website "Superpoligon" ( http://www.superpoligon.com/ ) was closed by the same court. At around the same time, the website Antoloji.com, which describes itself as an "Internet culture and art centre", was closed by court decree. The closure was apparently based on what a visitor to the site wrote about Adnan Oktar. The sites have since been reopened.