Turkey blocks VOA, Deutsche Welle in pre-election media clampdown
The ban came after the websites failed to apply for licenses that would allow government to oversee their content.
ISTANBUL — The Turkish broadcasting authority has blocked two international news sites in a move condemned as another step to silence the independent press ahead of looming elections.
The websites of German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) and the US state-run Voice of America (VOA), both of which publish news content in Turkish, went down on the night of June 30.
In February the broadcasting watchdog Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) called on the two as well as France-based Euronews to apply for licenses to operate in Turkey.
The banning order, which applies to VOA’s Turkish website and all of DW’s sites published in 32 languages, was issued by an Ankara court at the RTUK's request after the broadcasters failed to submit license applications.
