DPA
Ankara, April 10 (DPA) Turkish Internet users have been blocked from using the popular Google Groups service, a site which hosts thousands of forums for discussions, the Anadolu news agency reported Thursday Anadolu reported that the site, a sub-domain of search engine giant Google, had been blocked by order of a court in western Turkey.

Instead of being sent to the site’s main page, Turkish internet users are redirected to a page which says in Turkish and English: “Access to this site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2008/15 of T.C. Silivri 2.Civil Court of First Instance.”

The page says that the court decision was taken March 14, but no explanation for the ban was listed.

Turkish courts have recently used the pretext of material which they deemed to have been insulting of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish republic, as a reason to block sites such as the video-sharing website YouTube.
DPA