Türkiye reacts to remarks of US official over Ankara's ban on access to 2 news websites

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye on Thursday reacted to the remarks of the US State Department spokesman over the Turkish Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK)'s decision to block access to the websites of Deutsche Welle (DW) and Voice of America (VOA) in the Turkish language.

Ned Price labeled the decision as further expanding the government control over the freedom of expression and media in Türkiye.

Responding to the remarks, Tanju Bilgic, Türkiye's Foreign Ministry spokesman, tweeted: “Democracy 101: Freedom of expression is essential for democracy & so is rule of law. Regulations exist to allow freedom of expression & not to turn things into cacophony.”

Bilgic called on VOA Turkce and DW Turkce to respect Türkiye’s rules, just as Turkish media in the US abide by local regulations.

At the end of June, the ban came after the websites failed to apply for a license.