Censorship in Turkey
Freedom of press in Turkey is regulated by several laws, including the Article 301 which took effect in June 2005. Article 301 makes it a crime to insult "Turkishness". Since this Article became law, charges have been brought in more than 60 cases, some of which are high-profile.[1]
Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk was one of the famous writers to be censored under Article 301. Writer Perihan Mağden, a columnist for the newspaper Radikal, was tried and acquitted on July 27th 2006 for calling for opening the possibility of conscientious objection to mandatory military service in that country.
Multi-party period
Prime minister Adnan Menderes instituted censorship laws after World War II.
Freedom of speech was heavily restricted after the 1980 military coup headed by General Kenan Evren.
YouTube.com
On March 7 2007, Turkish courts, due to an insult to the founder of the Turkish republic , imposed a ban on the popular video sharing website, YouTube.com.[2] Two days later they lifted this ban.[3]
Violence against journalists and intellectuals
Although not officially censored, many journalists and intellectuals have been victims, over the years, of violent attacks, including assassinations.
Abdi İpekçi, editor of left-wing newspaper Milliyet was assassinated in 1979 by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a member of the Grey Wolves ultra-nationalist organization who later attempted to kill the Pope.
Muammer Aksoy, a Kemalist professor of law, was assassinated in 1990 by Islamists. The same year, left-wing activist, and feminist politician Bahriye Üçok was also assassinated by Islamists. Left-wing intellectual Aziz Nesin, who had attempted to publish in Turkey Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, was targeted along with Alevis, including Hasret Gültekin, a famous Kurdish bağlama saz player, in Sivas in July 1993. An arson led by Sunni extremists led to 36 deaths, although Aziz Nesin managed to survive.
In 1995, the writer and poet Onat Kutlar was victim of a terrorist attack.
Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, was assassinated in Istanbul on January 19, 2007, by Ogün Samast, a 17 year old ultra-nationalist Turk.
The blogging site WordPress was blocked by Turkish High Council of Telecommunications on August 17, 2007, due to defamation claims made on behalf of Adnan Oktar.[4]
"Valley of the Wolves" TV Show Banned
Early in 2007, the Turkish government banned a popular television series called Valley of the Wolves, citing the show's violent themes. The TV show inspired a Turkish-made movie by the same name, which included American actor Gary Busey. Busey played an American doctor who removed organs from Iraqi prisoners at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison and sold the harvested organs on the black market. The movie was pulled from theaters in the United States after the Anti-Defamation League complained to the Turkish ambassador to the U.S. about the movie's portrayal of Jews.[5]
Michael Dickinson
In June 2006, police seized a collage by British artist Michael Dickinson — which showed the Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a dog being given a rosette by President Bush — and told him he would be prosecuted. Charles Thomson, leader of the Stuckism movement, of which Dickinson is a member, wrote to then UK prime minister, Tony Blair in protest. The Times commented: "The case could greatly embarrass Turkey and Britain, for it raises questions about Turkey’s human rights record as it seeks EU membership, with Tony Blair’s backing."[6] The prosecutor declined to present a case, until Dickinson then displayed another similar collage outside the court. He was then held for ten days.[7] and faces prosecution in October 2007[8] for "insulting the Prime Minister's dignity".[9]
See also
- Article 301 (Turkish penal code)
- Human rights in Turkey
- Human rights in Europe
- International Freedom of Expression Exchange
- List of prosecuted Turkish writers
- Valley of the wolves
Notes and references
- ^ In Istanbul, a writer awaits her day in court, The Guardian, July 24, 2006.
- ^ Turkish court bans YouTube access, The BBC, March 7, 2007.
- ^ Turkey Lifts YouTube Ban, ABC News, March 10, 2007.
- ^ ""Why We're Blocked in Turkey: Adnan Oktar"". Retrieved 2007-08-31.
- ^ "First Banned in U.S., 'Wolves' Now Banned in Turkey", www.bannedmagazine.com, 17 February 2007
- ^ Alberge, Dalya and Erdem, Suna (2006). Satire that could land British artist in a Turkish jail, The Times, 17 June 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
- ^ Dickinson, Michael. "A prison diary: Watching the guards", counterpunch.org, 4 November 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2007.
- ^ Duff, Oliver. "Stuck in legal limbo", The Independent, 15 May 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2007.
- ^ Birch, Nicholas. "Briton charged over 'insult' to Turkish PM", The Guardian, 13 September 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2007.