Dear all

I wanted to forward a message from our General Counsel Eileen Hershenov regarding The Wikimedia Foundation's response to a recent statement by the Turkish Minister of Transport, Maritime, and Communications about the block of Wikipedia in Turkey.

You can find our letter to Minister Ahmet Arslan here https://blog.wikimedia.org/2018/05/22/a-letter-to-minister-ahmet-arslan/.

Best, Jan

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Eileen Hershenov ehershenov@wikimedia.org Date: Wed, May 23, 2018 at 3:22 PM Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Recent statement on the block of Wikipedia in Turkey To: Wikimedia Mailing List wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org

Hello,

Thank you to everyone who participated and supported the #WeMissTurkey efforts marking the one-year anniversary of the block in Turkey of all language versions of Wikipedia. The Wikimedia Foundation remains committed to restoring access to Wikipedia in full, upholding our values and stance against censorship, and supporting the local Wikimedia community in Turkey.

As part of our ongoing efforts, we have been monitoring discussions and mentions in the media around Wikipedia in Turkey. Last Friday, May 18, the Turkish Minister of Transport, Maritime, and Communications, Ahmet Arslan, made a number of incorrect comments[0] to the press in Turkey about Wikimedia and the block of Wikipedia. Minister Arslan’s position includes oversight of the BTK, the Internet Regulatory Agency that sought the block of Wikipedia.

The Foundation has replied to the Minister’s statements with an open letter sent to the Minister and shared with the media who covered the Minister's statements. The statement has also been shared with the local Wikimedia community in Turkey, and we have posted it on the Wikimedia Blog in both English[1] and Turkish[2] to address any further public confusion.

We will continue to keep you updated as we work with the local community to monitor the situation, and take appropriate actions to restore access to Wikipedia in Turkey.

Thank you, Eileen

[0] https://www.ntv.com.tr/teknoloji/bakan-ahmet-arslandan-wikipedia- aciklamasi,UaPHfIgSq0yDPoVfXo5SOw https://www.ntv.com.tr/teknoloji/bakan-ahmet-arslandan-wikipedia-aciklamasi,UaPHfIgSq0yDPoVfXo5SOw [1] https://blog.wikimedia.org/2018/05/22/a-letter-to- minister-ahmet-arslan/ [2] https://blog.wikimedia.org/tr/2018/05/22/bakan-ahmet-arslan- vikipedi-dunyadaki-herkes-tarafindan-gelistirilmeye-aciktir-ve-turkiyedeki- editorler-icin-de-acik-olmalidir/ https://blog.wikimedia.org/tr/2018/05/22/bakan-ahmet-arslan-vikipedi-dunyadaki-herkes-tarafindan-gelistirilmeye-aciktir-ve-turkiyedeki-editorler-icin-de-acik-olmalidir/ _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe