Corruption scandal rocks Turkish government. PM fires investigators.

[Sheilbh]

Fuck.  I have friends there.  Friends who will be on the barricades.   

Chill out dude.  Things might work out.  And even if they don't, at least we'll be able to tell Sheilbh that we told him so.

I doubt it.

[Syt]

Well, a court unbanned Twitter, but now they've blocked YouTube in Turkey.

Meanwhile, Erdogan said at a campaign rally that Turkey is of course a democracy with freedom of speech, and that it's fine to criticize the PM. He also said that there's countries in the EU who are much more restrictive and where criticizing the government was not tolerated. 

[Queequeg]

YouTube was blocked when I was there, except for at my dorm (Bogazici students get special treatment.)  YouTube refuses to take down some videos that don't portray Attaturk as the second coming of Jesus. 

[Razgovory]

YouTube was blocked when I was there, except for at my dorm (Bogazici students get special treatment.)  YouTube refuses to take down some videos that don't portray Attaturk as the second coming of Jesus.

Oh, well that's okay then.

[Queequeg]

YouTube was blocked when I was there, except for at my dorm (Bogazici students get special treatment.)  YouTube refuses to take down some videos that don't portray Attaturk as the second coming of Jesus.

Oh, well that's okay then.

I think my sarcasm about Ataturk and my general contempt of the ridiculously terrible state of freedom of speech and of the press in Turkey was obvious with the bit about the second coming of Jesus. 

[Valmy]

Well, a court unbanned Twitter, but now they've blocked YouTube in Turkey.

Meanwhile, Erdogan said at a campaign rally that Turkey is of course a democracy with freedom of speech, and that it's fine to criticize the PM. He also said that there's countries in the EU who are much more restrictive and where criticizing the government was not tolerated. 

Did he name names?

[Syt]

I  think the current reason for blocking are the supposedly incriminating videos with supposedly Erdogan's voice supposedly telling his son to get large sums of money out of the house before prosecutors come a-knockin'.

[Syt]

Did he name names?

No.

[alfred russel]

Well, a court unbanned Twitter, but now they've blocked YouTube in Turkey.

Meanwhile, Erdogan said at a campaign rally that Turkey is of course a democracy with freedom of speech, and that it's fine to criticize the PM. He also said that there's countries in the EU who are much more restrictive and where criticizing the government was not tolerated. 

Did he name names?

Many countries have laws against denying genocides, so the speech of many Turks is restricted in Europe.

[Syt]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26880891

Turkish PM Erdogan criticises Twitter court ruling

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised a court ruling which lifted a ban on Twitter.

The court had told the country's telecommunication authorities the two-week-old ban must be lifted as it was a breach of freedom of expression.

Mr Erdogan had vowed to "wipe out" Twitter after users spread corruption allegations involving him and his son, which he denied.

On Friday another court ordered the lifting of a similar ban on YouTube.

Mr Erdogan said his government had complied with the ruling on Twitter but that he did not respect it.

"I don't find it right and patriotic that the Constitutional Court has adopted such a decision," Mr Erdogan said, according to the Hurriyet website.

"While they are protecting an American company, our national and moral values are being disregarded."

Friday's ruling regarding YouTube reportedly stated that 15 videos should remain blocked.

Users across the country had found many ways of circumventing the prohibitions, which were widely criticised and ridiculed.

Mr Erdogan ordered the Twitter ban after recordings of corruption allegations linked to him and members of his family were posted and shared online. He said the recordings were fake and edited.

The ban was imposed on 21 March on the grounds that Twitter had failed to remove the allegations of corruption involving senior officials.

However the constitutional court ruled on 2 April that the ban was illegal.

On Thursday, Twitter's public policy team said it was "encouraged by the news from Turkey" and welcomed Turkish users back to the site.

Following the Twitter ban, the government had also banned access to YouTube, after a video on the website appeared to reveal top officials discussing how to stage an undercover attack inside Syria. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is apparently heard asking about the possibility of sending tanks in.

The YouTube recording, posted anonymously, has not been verified as authentic. Mr Erdogan alleges that such recordings are being fabricated to turn people against him.

The Washington Post published a transcript of the leaked security meeting, "courtesy of a veteran translator" who asked not to be named.

Mr Erdogan has lashed out at social media, accusing "plotters" of leaking recordings to deliberately undermine him.

One of those he has accused is a US-based Islamic cleric and former ally of his, Fethullah Gulen.

Mr Gulen has denied allegations that he is involved.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, a Twitter user, has spoken out against the bans.

During big anti-government demonstrations last year, protesters made heavy use of both Twitter and Facebook to spread information.

[Syt]

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/turkey-youtube-ban-site-remains-blocked-despite-court-order-1444180

Turkey YouTube Ban: Site Remains Blocked Despite Court Order

The Turkish authority responsible for communications said it will not unblock YouTube despite a court ruling which ordered the ban on the video-sharing website "be declared null and void".

The Communication Technologies Institution (BTK) announced that it would not allow users back on the website while "criminal content" remains uploaded.

YouTube was blocked without a court order last month by the Telecommunications Authority (TIB) after leaked recordings implicated the Turkish government in an alleged corruption scandal.

The removal of Twitter and YouTube from Turkish internet led to various courts supporting or rejecting the ban.

An Ankara court first ruled that the ban was justified based on a law criminalising insults to the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Ataturk.

Then, the Golbasi Court of Peace demanded that the site be unblocked before a higher court reversed this decision because of the "criminal content" on the site. The same court then reversed its own decision, declaring the YouTube ban to "null and void".

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ban of YouTube occurred after a leaked video of a conversation head of intelligence Hakan Fidan and Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was posted on the video-sharing site.

In the the leaked call, Erdogan allegedly gives his thoughts that an attack on Syria "must be seen as an opportunity for us [Turkey]".

In the conversation, Fidan says he will send four men from Syria to attack Turkey to "make up a cause of war".

Following Erdogan's victory in local elections with 47 percent of the vote, he warned that his rivals will "pay the price" for trying to bring about his downfall.

"Nobody should be upset. 77 million people should know that the new Turkey has won today. This is the wedding day of the new Turkey," said Erdogan.

[Valmy]

John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.