Sunday, July 18, 2010

Internet Ban Protest March in Istanbul


  Today's Hurriyet newspaper  reports of a protest march in Istanbul against the Turkish supreme court's decision to uphold the ban on YouTube. Hundreds took to the streets to show their opposition to the ban, as well as the blanket banning of thousands of other sites.
The group gathered at Taksim Square at 5 p.m. and marched to Galatasaray Square holding large banners reading “Censorship-free Internet,” “Do not click on our freedom,” and “Censorship protects you from the truth.” Demonstrators also had whistles, portable music systems and tambourines.
The joint press declaration read at Galatasaray Square protested Law No. 5651, which has resulted in access to more than 5,000 Internet sites being blocked in Turkey. The protesters demanded that the law be repealed and access to the sites affected by the law be re-established. An additional 500 websites are banned by various other laws and the protesters demanded that Turkish Internet users be allowed to access them as well.
To read the full article: click HERE.

3 comments:

  1. Bulent MurtezaogluJuly 18, 2010 at 9:12 PM

    Heh, it was broadcast thru 3G as it was happening. Here's the recording: http://qik.com/video/9258769

    Note how some demonstrators are wearing Guy Fawkes masks. Now I don't think it is likely that you can get traction or mass appeal for anything though references to a foreign movie (or in the highly unlikely case, a foreign historic character). I looked for a depiction based on Pir Sultan Abdal's popular picture of defiance with the saz replaced by a keyboard or sth. like that, but didn't see any. Even though that would have been polarizing, it perhaps would have had more of a mass appeal.

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  2. Good news indeed from the Istanbul front. The comments made me miss Turkey just a little bit... (I'll be back in 2 weeks)

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  3. I missed you!!! I thought you were vacuumed packed and put in storage someplace. Glad to know you are still amongst us. Hurry back!

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