Testy Turkey re-blocks YouTube over naughty hotel romp clip

Turkey has reinstated its block on YouTube – this time because it is showing a naughty clip of an opposition politician in a hotel bedroom with a female party member. Access to YouTube from Turkey was reinstated at the weekend after clips insulting the country's founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk were removed on copyright grounds. …

[Matt Bryant]

Of course.....

"....a naughty clip of an opposition politician in a hotel bedroom with a female party member...." Dare we ask for a Playmobil re-enactment of the event? You know, not 'cos we're pervs, but 'cos otherwise it didn't happen, obviously.

[steward]

Ironically...

Kemal Ataturk worked to move Turkey into the modern era. Turkey's government has made a religious icon of him, and in so doing, has insulted Ataturk more than anyone else could possibly do.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd wanted to argue...

... that this sort of shenanigan ought to be enough to make Turkey forget about EU membership for a while. But then I recalled the IWF and various other similar efforts across Europistan. Heck, it just so happens that the Turkish military are the strongest proponents of a secularly ruled Turkey, yet Barack "yes we can" Obama publicly welcomed moves to take influence away from that very same military. As if to say "Welcome, brothers, to our free world".

So I've got nothing. Carry on.

[foo_bar_baz]

Familiar tune all over the developing world

For the US foreign policy it's always been military dictatorship > religious nuts > communists

In the name of democracy and human rights you don't want the military in power, but the alternative is invariably as bad. It's just that the US has backed the military dictators, or the religious if it's a choice against communism, every time all over the globe. Which is a big reason why they are so hated universally.

I can see why Obama would like to temper this, and Turkey is a relatively moderate case where there's a slim chance you could actually get a reasonable result for all involved, rather than a major cluster**** where everyone ends up hating the USA with equal fervour.

The last option would be to keep out of others' affairs, but that doesn't seem to be a consideration.

[petur]

Welcome to the EU?

Looks like these people are ready to join the EU... NOT!

[Displacement Activity]

The EU...

...counts among its members Spain, Portugal, and Greece, which had various forms of military dictatorship until 1974 or '75. I remember television pictures of Spanish Guardia Civil waving their guns in parliament in '81. Spain still has the Guardia Civil; when you're on your hols, make sure you don't ask them for directions.

And, of course, the EU now includes Romania and Bulgaria, and various other tinpot countries, and is likely to admit Serbia before long.

Given this august company, I suspect that Turkey's attempts to suppress a few images of fornicating politicians won't cause too much of a stir in Brussels.

[Owen Carter]

Google is evil and invades privacy..

I'm waiting for all the 'Google haz invaded my privacy' exaggerators and cheerleaders to show up here and praise Turkey's legal system for it's rigour. Hopefully starting with Robert Halfon.

C'mon rob.. you were quick off the mark this morning with the IOC and Google; here's a new example of Googles willingness to contribute to the erosion of Privacy (via their proxie; YouTube) to continue the fight with..

It is, I'm sure you will agree, totally unacceptable for Google to host this video of an MP and his constituent in a private meeting.

[Anonymous Coward]

what ?

was the ban due to a video of the founder of turkey or because of a video showing an opposition MP. The story doesn't make much sense ?

Or do I need coffee.

[frank ly]

Strong, thick and sweet.

No, not you, turkish coffee; it's what you need.

[Liam McClean]

Testy Turkey

I think this you've stumbled across the name for the T release of Ubuntu

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

@what ?

There was a ban because of the founder, the ban was lifted when it showed an opposition MP

Sounds like they are perfectly ready to join the Eu, all they need is a law making it illegal to disrespect any politician or civil servant, another making the current president immune to prosecution and a way to ban anything for reasons of national security and they will be a modern european nation.

[Grendel]

Shoot themselves in the foot?

As 'Petur' said this is *exactly* the way for Turkey to set back their EU entry hopes another five years!

Grow up and stop acting like a spoilt brat or a country that had its 'god' ridiculed in a comic strip!

If you want to be 'western' you have to accept plurality and freedom of speech.

Grendel

PS. Why Paris? Well she would probably know a thing or two about romps in hotel rooms!

[Cunningly Linguistic]

Missed opportunity...

...for headline writer - "Google stuffs Turkey".

[Anonymous Coward]

Who gives a sh!t about EU??

Seriously, you guys need to educate yourself about the politics that takes place in Turkey. It is above and beyond about joining the EU, and what you guys need to understand is that joining to EU is the least of their problems right now.

And Turkey does not need to take a lesson from you guys about modernization, where nobody in the history of the world a person modernized a country the way that he did under the ashes of Ottoman Empire. At least enlighten yourself by reading a wiki page or two.

and fuck youtube.

cheers

[Anonymous Coward]

Modernized?

Yeah, they "modernized" the hell out of the Armenians, didn't they?

[Winkypop]

What a bunch of...

..Turkeys!

[ChrisStephenson]

It's an ill wind...

The real story is the money that is being made from advertising on proxies that have enabled every savvy Turkish youngster to keep on watching lady gaga videos. And you can't find anyone under 25 here who hasn't learnt what a DNS server is.

First the ban was implemented by taking Google URLs out of the default DNS servers and redirecting requests to a site controlled by the state. So everyone learnt to change their DNS server settings.

Then "they" started blocking Youtube (and, by accident, other Google sites) on an IP basis and redirecting those requests to a web site showing the court decision. Then proxies like vtunnel and ztunnel became popular. They have been taking a lot of Turkish advertising and making lorry loads of money. Check it out.

By the way the comments about Turkey on this list are mostly pretty ignorant and bordering on the racist. Yes, the Turkish state has an authoritarian and dictatorial tradition that dates back to 1923 and before. But there is very strong opposition from the people. And, ironically, it is the soft islamist government, elected in 2002, that started to open things up here, democratically. Youtube bans (and the other 4000 banned sites) are mostly the work of the "old" bureaucracy, opposed to the present government. And the soft islamist president has tweeted against the ban. Two prejudices knocked down in one tweet - the islamists are not anti-democracy and they are not anti-technology feudalsist.

This government, too, may also have its authoritarian ambitions. But the people of Turkey want their freedom and their web access. There are active campaigns and whenever they have the chance people turn out to vote for democratic changes.

The recent referendum on changes to the Turkish constitution was an example. There was an overwhelming (58%) vote for changes that will reduce the power of the judicial bureaucracy that does things like impose YouTube bans. And the size of the turnout in the vote would make any European politician's eyes water.

The people of Turkey are lively, pro-democracy, pro-freedom and enthusiastic users of technology. An inter bank money transfer here takes a few seconds and has done so for most of the twenty years I have lived here. In Blighty they are just getting around to reducing it below three days.

The people of Turkey don't have the state or the government they deserve, but I think that, too, is beginning to change. The people of Turkey deserve your support, not your contempt.

Chris Stephenson

[Graham Bartlett]

It's an improvement

At least there *is* an opposition government in Turkey, and their supporters aren't being tortured and murdered in police cells - even if they happen to be Kurdish. That's a definite improvement from the situation 15-20 years back.

And having been to Greece and Turkey, I'd rather see the Turks in the EU than Greece, which is a pissant third-world wasteland run by pocket-lining bureaucrats.

[James O'Shea]

Greece

" Greece, which is a pissant third-world wasteland run by pocket-lining bureaucrats". This is different from Ireland in what way? Oh. Yes. Right. RoI is a a _fourth_-world wasteland, heading rapidly towards fifth-world status. Carry on. (There are some who say that I'm bitter and have a bad attitude. I can't imagine why someone would say this.)

Bring on Turkey, it can't possibly make the EU worse.

[Anonymous Coward]

Link? Where's the link?

Picture (even moving pictures), or it didn't happen.