1 Nov 2010 | Index Index, minipost
After being blocked for two years YouTube can now be accessed again by Turkish citizens. The Google-owned site was originally banned in May 2008 under a 2007 law that allowed courts to block any website where there was “sufficient suspicion” that it had committed a crime. YouTube was accused of hosting videos that insulted the country’s founder, Kemal Ataturk, an offence in Turkey. The minister in charge of internet issues, Binali Yildirim, has said that the offending videos have been removed.
27 Oct 2010 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, minipost, News and features
Research in Motion (RIM) faces a ban of BlackBerry data services in Turkey if it doesn’t obey new legislation requiring companies to hand over communication encryption keys to Information and Communication Technologies Authority.
The new regulations aim at fighting terrorism and strive to make it possible for the country’s national security agency to tap into any suspect communications.
Blackberry smartphones are preferred by many, as they are the only smartphones which use an encrypted e-mail system, offering the secure communication.
26 Oct 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Turkey’s Radio Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has fined a Turkish news channel for airing an interview which criticizes the current government. CNN Turk had broadcast the opinions of Hasan Basri Özbey, Secretary General of the Labour Party, which included his criticisms of past policies by both the current President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The International Press Institute (IPI) National Committee has criticized RTÜK’s decision, remarking that “RTÜK chose one of these opinions to penalize by equating the critic with the broadcaster.”
19 Oct 2010 | Index Index, minipost
Kurdish politicians and activists, 151 in total, have gone on trial in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the Kurdish-dominated southeast. The charges include membership of illegal groups, spreading propaganda and violating laws on public demonstrations. The trial comes amidst Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plans for reconciliation with the Kurdish ethnic minority, who make up 20 per cent of the population. The defendants include 12 elected mayors, and about 20 of the suspects are to be tried in absentia. European human rights activists and lawyers have arrived to monitor the case.
