The Voice of America (VOA) and Deutsche Welle (DW) news outlets must respect Turkish rules just as the Turkish media is abiding by the local regulations of the Unites States, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

"Democracy 101: Freedom of expression is essential for democracy & so is rule of law.

Regulations exist to allow freedom of expression & not to turn things into cacophony," Tanju Bilgiç said on Twitter in an answer to U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price.

Price, a day earlier, said that the U.S. regretted Turkey’s decision to block access to the websites, adding that "free press is essential to a robust democracy."

The Turkish Broadcasting Authority (RTÜK) last week has blocked the websites of DW and VOA for not applying for the licenses it requests.

Online content providers are required to obtain a fresh license to continue broadcasting in the country and comply with the RTÜK guideline, according to Turkey’s new regulation.

The legislation in August 2019 gives RTÜK the authority to regulate online radio, television and on-demand broadcasting in Turkey.

Online streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video obtained licenses in late 2020 by complying with new RTÜK online broadcasting rules.