British MEP urges Turkey to end Youtube ban

Turkey was condemned today for cyber censorship – and for being the only country in the world which bans YouTube.

The Google-owned site is among 1,000 websites which have been blocked by Turkey’s Telecommunications Directorate since last year under the country’s law against cyber crime, which includes outlawing anything deemed to insult the memory of Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic and the country’s first president.

Tonight British Labour MEP Richard Howitt – a keen supporter of Turkey’s long-running bid for EU membership – met Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin in Ankara and asked him to lift the cyber ban in the interests of free speech.

He made clear that Turkey could not be taken seriously as an EU candidate country while it gagged internet sites.

Afterwards he commented: “The Turkish Justice Minister said he would consider what I had said.”

Turkey has been named alongside Vietnam, Tunisia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and Iran for internet censorship by the Turkish Bar Association Information Centre.

Mr Howitt said Turkey was now the only country in the world blocking YouTube.

The MEP warned: “As a modern country looking forward to European Union membership, Turkey should be embracing new communications rather than putting itself in the same bracket as some of the world’s pariah states.

“Whilst honouring Turkey’s founder, Ataturk, blocking more than 50 websites for insulting his memory cannot be equated with banning sites for child pornography or paedophilia.”

Mr Howitt went on: “Britain’s Queen has her own channel on YouTube and Turkey should be exploiting the political and economic opportunities YouTube provides, rather than seeking to ban it.”

Other sites banned by Turkey include the websites of a teachers’ trade union, and the site of British biologist Richard Dawkins. Turk telecom was ordered by a Turkish court in September to block access to the site after Mr Dawkins used his site to criticise the work of Islamic creationist author Adnan Oktar.

Even a site containing the Turkish dictionary has been banned and Mr Howitt said there are actions pending involving dozens of journalists and writers, even though the country has officially repealed its “anti-Turkishness” provision of the country’s penal code.

The MEP said it was in Turkey’s economic interests as well as in the interests of human rights and free speech – basic requirements for any country to even be considered to join the EU – that Turkey opens up the internet.

“The battle for free speech is integral to the changes the country needs to make to uphold European and human rights law,” added Mr Howitt, who put his case during a visit to Ankara by a delegation of MEPs promoting human rights.