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High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. Erdogan weighs Turkish ban against Facebook and YouTube - FT.com
March 6, 2014 11:26 pm
Erdogan weighs Turkish ban against Facebook and YouTube
By Daniel Dombey
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested Turkey could ban Facebook and YouTube after elections this month, in his latest response to a series of leaks of his private conversations on the internet.
The Turkish prime minister’s remarks, on a late night television interview programme on Thursday, came as part of a warning that after the March 30 vote he would redouble his efforts against the movement of Fethullah Gulen, a preacher and former ally turned foe with followers throughout state institutions.
He also suggested he could seek Mr Gulen’s extradition from voluntary exile in Pennsylvania.
Mr Erdogan says the local elections will show the Turkish public’s continued support for his AK party despite the leaks and a related corruption probe – both of which he says are the work of the Gulenist movement.
“We will take other steps after the March 30 elections,” the prime minister told his interviewers, adding that the government would follow up on a law it recently rushed through that allows it to block internet sites before obtaining a court order.
“We will not let these companies capture the nation,” he added, referring to Facebook and YouTube, the latter of which his anonymous opponents use to place his leaked telephone conversations on the internet.
Asked if he contemplated closing access to such sites, Mr Erdogan added: “Yes, closure included.”
Turkey previously banned access to YouTube between 2007 and 2010 as a result of a court order over videos allegedly insulting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the country’s founder. But Mr Erdogan has also made clear his own aversion to social media, comparing Twitter to a “curse” during mass protests against his rule last June.
The microblogging site has been extensively used to post links to the prime minister’s leaked phone conversations, in the most recent of which, released on Thursday, he appeared to reduce a newspaper owner to tears and successfully demanded the sacking of the paper’s editor-in-chief.
Mr Erdogan says the conversations are being leaked on the internet as an attempt to blackmail him, and says in some cases they have been tampered with or “fabricated”, adding that the Gulenists have established a parallel state that carried out illegal tapping on a massive scale.
Mr Gulen rejects such accusations, while his followers say they are just a tactic to divert attention from the corruption allegations facing the government and its allies.
More video
The government is considering other moves after this month’s elections. A bill increasing the powers of the country’s intelligence service is awaiting approval and Mr Erdogan signalled that the government could open a case against Mr Gulen and his movement as a precursor for demanding the preacher’s extradition.
Asked if Turkey would request an Interpol red notice to seek Mr Gulen’s extradition, Mr Erdogan replied “Why not?” But he suggested that Turkey would have to take necessary steps first – an apparent reference to prosecuting Mr Gulen.
He added that he had told US President Barack Obama of his concern in a telephone conversation last month.
“I told him that the source of the unrest in my country is in your country and I am expecting you to do what is necessary,” the prime minister said.
good news, one less market for low quality american monopolies. This is good news for turkish IT industry and smaller business who can get the market share. It will also protect turkey from terrorism and instability from western media. God bless Turkey and Erdogan
March 6, 2014 11:26 pm
Erdogan weighs Turkish ban against Facebook and YouTube
By Daniel Dombey
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested Turkey could ban Facebook and YouTube after elections this month, in his latest response to a series of leaks of his private conversations on the internet.
The Turkish prime minister’s remarks, on a late night television interview programme on Thursday, came as part of a warning that after the March 30 vote he would redouble his efforts against the movement of Fethullah Gulen, a preacher and former ally turned foe with followers throughout state institutions.
He also suggested he could seek Mr Gulen’s extradition from voluntary exile in Pennsylvania.
Mr Erdogan says the local elections will show the Turkish public’s continued support for his AK party despite the leaks and a related corruption probe – both of which he says are the work of the Gulenist movement.
“We will take other steps after the March 30 elections,” the prime minister told his interviewers, adding that the government would follow up on a law it recently rushed through that allows it to block internet sites before obtaining a court order.
“We will not let these companies capture the nation,” he added, referring to Facebook and YouTube, the latter of which his anonymous opponents use to place his leaked telephone conversations on the internet.
Asked if he contemplated closing access to such sites, Mr Erdogan added: “Yes, closure included.”
Turkey previously banned access to YouTube between 2007 and 2010 as a result of a court order over videos allegedly insulting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the country’s founder. But Mr Erdogan has also made clear his own aversion to social media, comparing Twitter to a “curse” during mass protests against his rule last June.
The microblogging site has been extensively used to post links to the prime minister’s leaked phone conversations, in the most recent of which, released on Thursday, he appeared to reduce a newspaper owner to tears and successfully demanded the sacking of the paper’s editor-in-chief.
Mr Erdogan says the conversations are being leaked on the internet as an attempt to blackmail him, and says in some cases they have been tampered with or “fabricated”, adding that the Gulenists have established a parallel state that carried out illegal tapping on a massive scale.
Mr Gulen rejects such accusations, while his followers say they are just a tactic to divert attention from the corruption allegations facing the government and its allies.
More video
The government is considering other moves after this month’s elections. A bill increasing the powers of the country’s intelligence service is awaiting approval and Mr Erdogan signalled that the government could open a case against Mr Gulen and his movement as a precursor for demanding the preacher’s extradition.
Asked if Turkey would request an Interpol red notice to seek Mr Gulen’s extradition, Mr Erdogan replied “Why not?” But he suggested that Turkey would have to take necessary steps first – an apparent reference to prosecuting Mr Gulen.
He added that he had told US President Barack Obama of his concern in a telephone conversation last month.
“I told him that the source of the unrest in my country is in your country and I am expecting you to do what is necessary,” the prime minister said.
good news, one less market for low quality american monopolies. This is good news for turkish IT industry and smaller business who can get the market share. It will also protect turkey from terrorism and instability from western media. God bless Turkey and Erdogan
