The stringent online censorship laws in Turkey came to the fore yet again, with the country reinstating a ban on Google's popular video-sharing site YouTube, within days of having lifted an earlier 30-month ban on the site.

While the previous ban was imposed, in May 2008, because of a disparaging video about the country's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk; the latest ban results from a video that shows politician Deniz Baykal - ex-chairman of the opposition - in an illicit rendezvous with a woman aide.

Going by the information shared by Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF), "thousands of websites" have been blocked in Turkey. As per a Reuters' report, several human rights groups and media watchdog associations have requested Turkey to amend its strict online censorship laws.

The reinstating of the ban on YouTube implies that Turkey, which is a European Union (EU) candidate country, is clearly putting at risk its possible membership of the EU community by curbing Internet freedom.

According to Reuters, the Telecommunications Board spokeswoman Guleser Aykara stated that the board was notified of Tuesday's Turkish court ruling about YouTube ban, and that it is likely to make a decision by Thursday on whether or not to execute the ban. Aykara told Reuters: "We will first check if the undesirable content still remains on the website."