A Turkish court on Wednesday lifted a ban on Wikipedia after two years.
Turkey was the only country in the world apart from China to entirely block access to the online encyclopedia.
But its constitutional court ruled last month that the ban, in place since April 2017, violated freedom of expression.
Turkish officials said in 2017 that the ban was needed as Wikipedia had failed to remove content accusing its government of assisting terrorist groups.
Rights groups have regularly criticized the erosion of free speech in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, especially since a failed coup attempt in 2016 triggered a massive crackdown on government critics in the press and beyond.
An Ankara judge gave the order on Wednesday for the ban to be lifted by the telecommunications watchdog.
Users said the website was still inaccessible on Wednesday though it was expected to be gradually unblocked nationwide.
- In April 2017, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) blocked Wikipedia access due to information according to which the Turkish government supports terrorist organizations.
- At the end of May 2019, the Wikimedia Foundation, which is the founder of the online library, filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights because of a blocking the resource in Turkey.
- On December 26, 2019, the Turkish Constitutional Court declared the blocking of the Wikipedia online encyclopedia a violation of freedom of speech.
- On January 15, 2020, from 10:40 a.m. Wikipedia has become available in Turkey.