Service restored: Turkey gets YouTube back

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 11 March 2007 14:17

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After the shock decision by a Turkish court to ban YouTube in Turkey, thanks to a video that allegedly insulted Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, modern Turkey’s founder, the same court has decided to reverse their decision following an international outcry.

The head of corporate communications for Turk Telecom, Turkey’s dominant telecommunications provider, Ahter Kutadgu, told Turkey’s news agency Anatolia that as soon as they had received notice from the court of their new decision, they immediately restored access to YouTube.

YouTube had advised they were concerned about the ban, and had immediately removed the offending video clips, which the court said would satisfy them in terms of getting the ban lifted.
 
The offending video allegedly said that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and the Turkish people were homosexuals, according to online reports, however in Turkey, insulting Ataturk is a criminal offense, with reports that the Turkish people had complained to local newspapers about the video in question. Ataturk is a revered figured in Turkey, with his portrait in government offices and printed on the nation’s currency.

Turkey has a law, Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which states that insulting Turkishness is a crime. The Turkish government in is considering the modification of this law, although they refuse to abolish it, with a number of journalists previously tried for allegedly insulting Ataturk of for committing insults against ‘Turkishness’. This law is different to the law against insulting Ataturk, which is a no-go area for change as far as the Turkish Government is concerned.

The entire incident has exposed the Turkish Government’s strict attitudes towards freedom of expression by the public and the press, and has caused further difficulties with the European Union, membership of which Turkey aspires to but has not as yet been granted.

Restoring service to YouTube goes some way to mollifying national and international concern, although future bans are possible should the incident be repeated, given the strict nature of Turkey’s laws and legal system.