Turkey on Saturday expelled more than 3,900 people from the civil service and military as threats to national security, in the second major purge since President Tayyip Erdogan was granted sweeping new powers. They were fired for suspected links to "terrorist organizations and structures presenting a threat to national security", according to a decree in the Official Gazette. Hours earlier Turkey blocked online encyclopedia Wikipedia, with the telecommunications watchdog citing a law allowing it to ban access to websites deemed obscene or a threat to national security. A government official told Reuters the dating show ban would only apply to satellite channels that "do advertising for sexual products", and not to prime time television. Turkey last year jailed 81 journalists, more than any other country, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Source: Egypt Independent April 30, 2017 08:03 UTC