Türkiye blocks access to DW and VOA

The Turkish Broadcasting Authority (RTÜK) has blocked the websites of the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) and those of U.S. international radio station Voice of America (VOA) for not applying for the licenses it requests.

DW confirmed that access was blocked to all of its 32 different language sites as of Thursday evening. VOA also confirmed Turkey’s media regulator had blocked access, Vestnik Kafkaza informs.

“Access to the websites of DW Turkish and VOA Turkish from Turkey has been blocked on the grounds that no license application has been made to RTÜK,” DW wrote on Twitter Thursday.

Online content providers are required to obtain a fresh license to continue broadcasting in the country and comply with the RTÜK guideline, according to Turkey’s new regulation.

Deutsche Welle and Voice of America recognised as foreign agents in Russia.