On Saturday, Google confirmed the reports: Turkish Internet service providers are preventing access to Google’s domain name system.
These are the servers Google uses to direct web users to its destination websites. Google likens Turkey's actions to replacing a phone book with one that looks the same, but has the wrong numbers in it.
“That’s essentially what’s happened: Turkish ISPs have set up servers that masquerade as Google’s DNS service.”
Reports first surfaced a week ago that Turkey was suppressing access to Google’s servers; Google’s blog is the first official confirmation. (Via Hurriyet Daily News)
And Recode reports it’s the latest in a cat-and-mouse game between web users in Turkey and the administration there.
Turkey first blocked access to Twitter, then YouTube. Euronews reports the office of Prime Minister Erdogan claimed illicit recordings of state business had leaked to both sites.
Residents retaliated by spray-painting Google’s public DNS addresses across Istanbul, which until recently gave residents a way to access Google through their government's blocking. (Via Mashable)
The Wall Street Journal reports Erdogan has claimed Twitter and YouTube are parts of a conspiracy against his administration as local elections loom.
“His critics domestically and internationally basically say that’s a load of rubbish and he’s using it as a pretext to crack down ahead of these elections.”
Residents in Turkey go to to the polls Sunday, where Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party is up for reelection. (Via The Guardian)
