Several Turkish courts have rejected Wikipedia’s attempts to get the online encyclopedic back on the web in Turkey. Turkey has used a special emergency order to block all-language versions of Wikipedia. The site has been inaccessible in Turkey since the 29th of April.
READ MORE: Wikipedia Shut Down in Turkey
Wikipedia’s court case had been rejected by the 1st Criminal Court of Peace in Ankara. It had been previously rejected by a local Turkish court. Therefore Turkey’s Constitutional Court will now hear the case.
The Constitutional Court used to be known for its strict Kemalist interpretation of the Turkish Constitution, but purges of judges unsympathetic to President Erdogan’s Islamist politics have made the court a far less effective tool for secular justice than it had been in previous decades.
Last year, Constitutional Court judges Alparslan Altan and Erdal Tercan were arrested, standing accused of being connected with the outlawed Islamist Gulen Movement of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. In reality, Erdogan has for years, used purges to arrest or dismiss any judges or prosecutors who disagree with him. Most such individuals have not been Gulenists but secular Kemalists.
READ MORE: Turkish President Erdogan wastes no time in using his new dictatorial powers.
Given that Erdogan has just completed further purges of the public sector since his victory in a referendum to expand Presidential power, it is unlikely that Wikipedia will get a fair hearing.
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