Turkey Bans YouTube Over Offensive Video

Turkey has blocked access to Google-owned video sharing site, YouTube, following the publication of a video that mocked the nation's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

The ban on YouTube was imposed when reports of the offensive video reached the Turkish court, which was allegedly uploaded by an ethnic Greek from Cyprus. Prosecutors claim the video displayed pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk with insults written over it in English. The clip prompting the ban reportedly dubbed Ataturk and Turks homosexuals.

Youtube has since removed the video but it is unclear when access to Youtube will be restored in Turkey.

It may be mentioned that insulting Ataturk, the founding father of modern Turkey, is an offence which can result in a prison sentence in the country. Writers, including the Nobel literature laureate Orhan Pamuk, have faced trial for work that allegedly breaches this law.

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