Following in the wake of the nationwide WordPress (WP) block in Turkey, readers and writers alike from within the republic’s borders are being greeted by the same message when attempting to access blog.flickr.com: “Access to this site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/195 of T.C. Fatih 2.Civil Court of First Instance.”
Considering the exact same wording as those trying to access WP in Turkey, it would appear that the blog companion site to the well-known Yahoo-owned photo-sharing Flickr is also the subject of the same court order. As WP founding developer Matt Mullenweg recently revealed on the WP site, the WP block in Turkey is the result of a a private “defamation” case issued by controversial Turkish religious leader Adnan Oktar.
3 responses so far ↓
Islamist blocked Flicker Blog in Turkey // August 27, 2007 at 1:01 pm |
[...] been reported that Flickr Blog is also banned in Turkey, possible by AK Party connected the [...]
Jim // August 27, 2007 at 4:17 pm |
I approved this to appear on my blog for the sole reason that I seriously do not believe that this is anyway connected to the AK Party. The case of the block on WordPress and Flickr Blog in Turkey share the very same court order number (2007/195) so it’s reasonable to assume that the suspension stems from the same man: Adnan Oktar.
Any attempts to link the controversial Islamic creationist’s personal vendetta against a major free speech platform and the AK Party gov’t’s pro-EU reforming record in office, winning them a second landslide re-election, purely because they are both Islamic is tenuous at best… Highly dodgy at worst… And, moreover, smacks of an anti-AK Party hidden agenda — to borrow the CHP and Kemalist press’ own term when they were wailing on about impending Shariah law earlier this year.
That said though, such is the nature of the blogosphere as well as the wider machinations of the mainstream press, this issue does have politically embarrassing potential for the gov’t.
In my opinion, they need to distance themselves from widely-known madness that is “Adnan Hoca” — as the Turkish press call him. With this link to the Islamic-rooted but pro-democratic gov’t party — in (fiercely) secular Turkey as well as the wider world — as tenuous as this is, the more it seeps into the manistream press (already it’s hit two Turkish dailies: Sabah & Radikal) the more this linkage will pick up momentum.
And, as I see it, the only way to disassociate themselves from such an potentially embarrassing connection is to either over-rule its own law & lift the block (unlikely), or reform that very law that allows one cult-freak to take out an entire free-speech network with the flick of a writ.
On the road to EU membership many changes come… They already have. And they all came from the AK Party.
In the words of Hunter S. Thompson:
“Politics is the art of controlling your environment.”
And in the 21st century, image is everything.
Happy Blog Day 2007 // September 2, 2007 at 1:22 am |
[...] post celebrating the fact that I have the freedom to write and post my thoughts online, unlike these and other citizens around the globe who have been banned access [...]