A ban on the open-source online encyclopedia website, Wikipedia, may be lifted if the site complies with Turkey's demands, a Turkish minister said yesterday. Speaking in a televised interview, Ahmet Arslan, minister of Telecommunications, said they would to reopen the website if conditions are met.

Access to the website was blocked in Turkey in April after Wikipedia refused to cooperate with Ankara in the removal of fabricated content falsely associating the country with terror groups. Arslan's ministry said after the ban that Wikipedia was "becoming an information source acting with groups conducting a smear campaign against Turkey in the international arena."

In yesterday's interview, Arslan said the website did not "correct its mistakes" and prevented Turkish editors from inserting corrections. "We asked them to remove the content misrepresenting Turkey. We have warned them many times before. Turkey wants Wikipedia to be reopened, but they can only be given a green light if they correct their mistake," Arslan said.