|
Turkish Court Orders YouTube.com Blocked
7.3.2007
|
|
|
|
March 7, 2007
ISTANBUL, Turkey,-- A Turkish court ordered
access to YouTube's Web site blocked on Wednesday,
after a prosecutor recommended the ban because of
videos allegedly insulting the founder of modern
Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Paul Doany, head of Turk Telekom, Turkey's largest
telecommunications provider, said his company had
begun immediately enforcing the ban.
"We are not in the position of saying that what
YouTube did was an insult, that it was right or
wrong," Doany said in remarks to the state-run
Anatolia news agency. "A court decision was proposed
to us, and we are doing what that court decision
says."
Doany said Turk Telekom would allow access to the
popular video sharing site again if the court
decision were rescinded.
Access from Turkey might be possible through other
service providers, he said.
Over the past week, Turkish media publicized what
some called a "virtual war" between Greeks and Turks
on YouTube, with people from both sides posting
videos to belittle and berate the other.
The video prompting the ban allegedly said Ataturk
and the Turkish people were homosexuals, news
reports said. The CNN-Turk Web site featured a link
allowing Turks to complain directly to YouTube about
the "insult."
On its front page on Wednesday, the newspaper
Hurriyet said thousands of people had written
YouTube and that the Ataturk videos had been removed
from the site. "YouTube got the message," the
headline said.
Insulting Ataturk or "Turkishness" is a crime in
Turkey punishable by prison.
Turkey, which hopes to join the European Union, has
been roundly condemned for not doing enough to curb
extreme nationalist sentiments and to protect
freedom of expression.
Kurdistan
related websites blocked in Turkey in January
2007
A black humorist named his business the Virus
Internet Café. It is located down a side street in
Doğubayazıt, and is heated by a woodstove; still,
everybody keeps his winter jacket on. Trying to log
onto Kurdish Web sites such as kurdmedia.com,
interkurd.com and more other Kurdish websites or
undertaking a Wikipedia search for “Kurdistan” all
generate the following message: “Bu Sayfa Yasak
Siteler Listesinde Kayıtlı ve Bloklandı.”
Translation: “This site is listed as forbidden and
has been blocked.”
Source: AP | turkishdailynews com.tr | hurriyet
com.tr
** The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 