Online encyclopedia Wikipedia has appealed to Turkey's Constitutional Court against the Turkish telecommunications watchdog's decision to block access to the website.
Access to Wikipedia was restricted in Turkey on April 29 for failing to remove false content alleging a partnership between the country and terror groups and for refusing to cooperate with Turkish authorities.
The Wikimedia Foundation's previous appeal to the ban imposed by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) at a local court was rejected Friday.
The foundation filed an application to the country's top court Tuesday on the grounds of restriction of the freedom of expression. The petition stated that the complete ban on the website over a small amount of content was against the law and openly violated precedents set by the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
The block on the site was prompted by two Wikipedia entries accusing Turkey of links to terrorist groups. The communications ministry has said Wikipedia was attempting to run a "smear campaign" against the country, saying some articles purported that Ankara had been coordinating with militant groups.
