The FINANCIAL -- Turkey's telecommunications authority has reportedly asked famous video-sharing website Youtube to launch its Turkish version to be unblocked in the country, Today's Zaman says.

Youtube has been banned by a Turkish court since January 2008 after complaints against video clips insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the country. Tayfun Acarer, chairman of Turkey's Information Technologies and Communication Board (BTK), said Turkish officials had made several meetings with Youtube executives to lift the ban.

Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım was also in attendance at three of these meetings, Acarer said.

"We have brought forward very reasonable proposals, such as a Turkish version of Youtube, at these meetings," he said. "But it's been almost three months since our last meeting and we could not get any news from them."

Youtube is available in special versions created for 22 languages, Acarer said. “We expect Youtube to take a step and make a proposal for the solution," he added.

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