MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier on Friday, the Turkish Telecommunications Department confirmed that a decision had been made to block the Sputnik website within the country.
"Website chinaru.info, which is the Sputnik agency's partner, is seriously concerned about these developments and expresses regret in this regard. The Sputnik agency and its news website have offices in almost all capitals of the world. Its exclusive materials are addressed to hundreds of millions of readers who are tired of an obtrusive propaganda of the unipolar world and readers, who want to know the alternative point of view," the website said in the statement.
"We hope that the administrative measures on the ban of the Sputnik website will be cancelled soon, which will allow Turkey to neutralize the negative effect from the ban and to show the world its commitment to the principles of freedom of speech," the statement said.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry refused to comment on the website blocking. Earlier on Friday, Sputnik Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said the blocking was a sign of censorship and lack of freedom of speech in Turkey.
