After website ban, Istanbul disinvites Wikipedia founder

ANKARA, Turkey – The Istanbul municipality says it has withdrawn an invitation for the founder of Wikipedia to attend an event after Turkish authorities banned the website.

The municipality said Tuesday that Jimmy Wales had been removed from a list of invitees to the World Cities Expo event later this month and that he had been notified of the decision.

Turkish authorities blocked access to the free online encyclopedia on April 29, on grounds that it was “acting with groups conducting a smear campaign against Turkey in the international arena.”

Turkish media reports said an Ankara court ordered the ban after Wikipedia refused to remove pages that claimed that Turkey provided support to jihadis in Syria.

Wales later tweeted that he stood with the Turkish people in “their fight” for the right to access information.