Turkey plans launching domestic Internet services compatible with national culture

Turkey’s Minister of Communication announced in a television interview that the country is creating a domestic search engine and e-mail service ‘compatible with national culture and values’. The measures would be taken in response to the ‘need to store user data within Turkey’s borders and ensure that communications could be fully analysed domestically’. However, activists fear Turkey’s complete isolation from the international community, as several global Internet companies (e.g. PayPal, Amazon, and eBay) have already been blocked in Turkey, and others (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) are often temporarily blocked in response to political incidents and attacks.