X

WikiLeaks under 'sustained attack' after announcing release of Turkey docs

Document-leaking organization suggests the Turkish government might be behind attack.

Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
Expertise I have more than 30 years' experience in journalism in the heart of the Silicon Valley.
Steven Musil
Getty Images

WikiLeaks on Monday said its site is under an ongoing attack after announcing it would release a trove of documents detailing Turkey's political power structure.

"Our infrastructure is under sustained attack," read a tweet sent by WikiLeaks, perhaps best known for the release of classified government and military documents.

The document-leaking organization said earlier Monday it was preparing to release 300,000 emails and 500,000 documents related to the failed Turkish coup Friday. WikiLeaks went on to suggest that the Turkish government might be behind the attack on the organization.

"We are unsure of the true origin of the attack. The timing suggests a Turkish state power faction or its allies," WikiLeaks said in a subsequent tweet. "We will prevail & publish."

The expected document release and attack on WikiLeaks come just three days after military factions in Turkey tried to take control of the country. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were reportedly blocked in Turkey during the attempted coup Friday, but many residents appear to have gotten around the blocks, posting messages and videos, likely using VPNs or other anonymizing services.