TURKISH AUTHORITIES BLOCK YOUTUBE ACCESS AGAIN
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.09.2007 13:12 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A Turkish court has banned YouTube access after
someone complained that the world’s most popular video sharer was
hosting clips that insulted the "country’s founding father", Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk, The Register reports.
In response to a Turkish resident who stumbled onto YouTube videos
badmouthing not only Ataturk but President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the national army, the court has ordered the
Turkish Telecommunications Board to block access to the entire site.
Much the same thing happened this past March, when a court order
forced the country’s largest telecommunications provider, Turk Telekom,
to put the kibosh on YouTube access.
That ban lasted but two days. Turk Telecom removed a video that
insulted Ataturk, whose memory is protected by Turkish law, and
access to the site was soon restored. But just six months later,
another blackout seems imminent.
It’s not known yet whether the Turkish authorities demanded removal
of the video before blocking YouTube access this time.