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Lunatic Turkish Islamist Dictator Erdogan blocks Twitter in his country

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by AroundTheWorld, Mar 21, 2014.

  1. AroundTheWorld

    Supporting Member

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    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ogan-vows-to-wipe-out-the-social-network.html

    Twitter is blocked in Turkey as Erdogan vows to 'wipe out' the social network
    Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, fighting corruption allegations, says he does not care what international community thinks of ban


    Turkey's courts have blocked access to Twitter days before elections as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan battles a corruption scandal that has seen social media platforms awash with alleged evidence of government wrongdoing.
    The ban came hours after a defiant Mr Erdogan, on the campaign trail ahead of key March 30 local elections, vowed to "wipe out" Twitter and said he did not care what the international community had to say about it.
    Mr Erdogan's ruling AK Party has already tightened Internet controls, handed government more influence over the courts, and reassigned thousands of police and hundreds of prosecutors and judges as it fights a corruption scandal he has cast as a plot by political enemies to oust him.
    Telecoms watchdog BTK said the social media platform had been blocked by the courts after complaints were made by citizens that it was breaching privacy. It said Twitter had ignored previous requests to remove content.
    "Because there was no other choice, access to Twitter was blocked in line with court decisions to avoid the possible future victimization of citizens," it said.

    San Francisco-based Twitter said it was looking into the matter but had not issued a formal statement. The company did publish a tweet addressed to Turkish users instructing them on how to continue tweeting via SMS text message.
    "Twitter, mwitter!," Mr Erdogan told thousands of supporters at a rally late on Thursday, in a phrase translating roughly as "Twitter, schmitter!".
    "We will wipe out all of these," said Mr Erdogan, who has cast the corruption scandal as part of a smear campaign by his political enemies.
    "The international community can say this, can say that. I don't care at all. Everyone will see how powerful the Republic of Turkey is," he said in a characteristically unyielding tone.
    Twitter users in Turkey began reporting widespread outages overnight. Some users trying to open the Twitter.com website were taken to a statement apparently from another regulator (TIB) citing four court orders as the basis for the ban.
    The corruption investigation became public on Dec 17 when police detained the sons of three cabinet ministers and businessmen close to Mr Erdogan. The three ministers resigned a week later, while others were removed in a cabinet reshuffle.
    At an extraordinary session on Wednesday, parliament's speaker blocked opposition pleas to have a prosecutor's report with allegations against the former ministers read out.
    A document purporting to be that report appeared on Twitter last week. It included alleged transcripts of wiretapped phone conversations, pictures from physical surveillance and pictures of official documents accusing the former ministers and two of their sons of involvement with an Iranian businessman in a bribery and smuggling racket.
    Reuters has not been able to verify the authenticity of the document.
    Turkish Internet users were quick to come up with ways to circumvent the block. The hashtag #TwitterisblockedinTurkey quickly moved among the top trending globally.
    The disruption sparked a virtual uproar, with many comparing Turkey to Iran and North Korea, where social media platforms are tightly controlled.
    There were also calls to take to the street to protest, although some users equally called for calm.
    Nazli Ilicak, a columnist who used to work for the pro-government Sabah newspaper described the move as "a civil coup" in an interview on broadcaster CNN Turk.
    The move was only the latest clash between Turkey's ruling party and social media companies including Google, Facebook and Twitter.
    After a series of popular protests partly fuelled by Twitter last summer, Mr Erdogan slammed the service as "a scourge."
    Shortly thereafter a government minister asked Twitter to establish an office in Turkey so that it could better communicate requests to take down content or hold the company accountable to Turkish law. Twitter did not respond to the request.
    Mr Erdogan said two weeks ago that Turkey could also ban Facebook and YouTube, which he says have been abused by his enemies after a stream of audio recordings purportedly revealing corruption in his inner circle emerged online.
    But a senior official said on Friday there were no immediate plans to do so.
    "The path was taken to block access within the framework of a court decision because of the failure to overcome the problem with the management of Twitter," the official said.
    "At the moment there is no such a decision for Facebook and other social media," he told Reuters.


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    This guy has jailed more journalists than anyone. He is a brutal dictator, corrupt to the bone, and crazy. To block Twitter because he wants to restrict freedom of speech any way he can is like turning off all telephone lines because someone used a telephone line to say something he doesn't like. Just insane. I can't believe they haven't finally gotten rid of him yet.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. supdudes

    supdudes Member

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    Barring the abuse of power and the lack of freedom of speech, is living without social media actually a bad thing??
     
  3. Ubiquitin

    Ubiquitin Contributing Member
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    ATW you're a troll
     
    1 person likes this.
  4. AroundTheWorld

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    No, corrupt dictator Erdogan is.

    Turkey's Twitter ban: How to let everyone know you're a despot

    Today it emerged that the Turkish government has blocked Twitter after some users posted damning documents that alleged potential corruption within the Prime Minister's inner circle.

    Rather than address the allegations through legal and investigative procedures, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has instead puffed out his chest and declared war on Twitter.

    Vowing to show the "power of the Turkish Republic" by committing to "wipe out Twitter," Erdogan’s government has subsequently blocked the social media site.

    Within hours, Turkish users managed to circumnavigate the ban and continue using the service. With hashtags such as #dictatorerdogan trending, the news of the social media shutdown has sparked off a huge amount of interest, with the world’s online community expressing concern and outrage.

    Are social media sanctions and site blocking now a key reflection of a nation heading towards a grim future? In my mind, absolutely. But importantly, banning vital digital communications channels achieves a far greater impact – an impact that the ‘digital bouncers’ don’t expect.

    Despite the worst intentions of the Turkish government to curb the ability for information to spread, removing access to Twitter has instead resulted in a greater awareness of the potential danger that lies ahead for Turkey.

    A report in December last year indicated that Turkey had imprisoned more journalists than any other nation, making it the biggest ‘media jail’ in the world. This issue is now circulating further and wider as a result of today’s Twitter ban, reaching people who potentially were unaware of the situation in Turkey previously, and shedding further light on Erdogan’s reign.

    Has the banning of Twitter backfired for Erdogan? It has, but by how much only time will tell. Already broad comparisons are being made between Erdogan and the ousted Egyptian Prime Minister, Hosni Mubarak, who also attempted to stop the flow of information, and lost.

    http://www.prweekus.com/article/turkeys-twitter-ban-let-everyone-know-youre-despot/1286524

    ------------------

    Azadre, which fact from the two articles are you disputing?

    And if you are not disputing the facts, are you defending jailing journalists and blocking Twitter, in order to cover up corruption of a dictator and his family and cronies?

    If so, why? What is it that makes you want to defend such actions?
     
  5. Ubiquitin

    Ubiquitin Contributing Member
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    This has nothing to do with 'Islamism' and everything to do with the fact Erdogan is up to his eyeballs in corruption.
     
  6. AroundTheWorld

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    Erdogan has been undermining democracy in Islam in favor of an agenda of Islamism. He has also been corrupt. Turkey is often cited as a model democracy in a Muslim country, and as "proof" that both agendas can work together. Well, Erdogan's actions seem to indicate the opposite. And Turkish protesters who risked their lives agree with me:

    Turkey's protesters accuse Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Islamist agenda

    When Recep Tayyip Erdogan swept to power in 2002, Turkey was lauded by the West as an example of a successful, Muslim-majority, secular democracy.

    The country's brand of "Islamic Calvinism" – spearheaded by Mr Erdogan's pro-business and pro-free market reforms – lifted Turkey out of deep recession.
    Crippling inflation was brought under control and the economy has grown at an average of 7.3 per cent a year over the last decade.
    Politically, he has been praised for the introduction of several progressive reforms. For example, the European Court of Human Rights has been given supremacy over Turkish courts, and in general Mr Erdogan has brought Turkey closer to the European Union.
    After three election victories, he has been – and remains – the most popular politician in Turkey's recent history and has cemented the country's alliance with the United States, which was highlighted when Barack Obama chose Ankara as his first overseas trip as president in 2009.
    However, with protests flaring across the country, the prime minister now faces one of the biggest challenges of his eleven-year reign. A growing number of people in the country – even those who have supported him in the past – are now accusing Mr Erdogan of a stifling authoritarianism and a subtle shift towards religious conservatism. They say Turkey is secular in name only and that Mr Erdogan is now promoting a distinctly Islamist agenda.

    The government has refused to continue Turkey's strict ban on religion from all public domains and its limitation to private life.
    In 2008, parliament passed an amendment to the constitution allowing women to wear the headscarf in Turkish universities.
    Describing himself as a Muslim prime minister of a secular state, Mr Erdogan last year said he wanted to see a "pious generation" – a comment that drew much criticism but was backed up by the passing of a law allowing religious schools to take on students as young as 11.
    In a surprise move last week, the government introduced a new law cracking down on alcohol, banning the sale of drink between 10pm and 6am and forcing restaurants near schools or mosques to be dry.
    The prime minister denied the law had anything to do with Islam, but that it was intended to stop young Turks from "wandering about in a state of inebriation".
    The protesters are unconvinced, fearing that targeting alcohol fits in with a pattern of conservatism that has seen more headscarves and longer skirts amongst female civil servants.
    "In the old days if you wanted a promotion you wore a short skirt, now it's the other way round," a diplomat told the Economist.
    The wave of protests that began on Friday were not borne of environmental concerns about Taksim park. The men and women that have taken to the streets in towns and cities across the country are growing increasingly frustrated by the direction Mr Erdogan – supported by his intensely unpopular police force – appears to have taken.
    "They want to turn this country into an Islamist state, they want to impose their vision all the while pretending to respect democracy," said one young female protester in Istanbul, declining to give her name.

    The US issued a rare rebuke over the police response to the protests and will be monitoring the suggestion that Turkey's secularisation is under threat closely – especially with the key and complex role Turkey has in the Syria conflict.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...-Recep-Tayyip-Erdogan-of-Islamist-agenda.html

    ------------------------

    The Twitter ban might not be directly motivated by Erdogan's Islamist agenda, but Islamism, corruption and a contempt for freedom of speech and for democracy are all present in Erdogan's persona and politics.
     
  7. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Contributing Member

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    What would the US do if Obama suddenly banned social media?
     
  8. AroundTheWorld

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    The following article gives a good overview of Erdogan's agenda in recent months, how he uses Islam constantly as a justification for his dictatorial and corrupt actions, and where his desperation move to block Twitter is coming from.


    Corruption, Islamism, and Twitter in Turkey
    AHMET T. KURU 14 March 2014



    Erdoğan has consolidated the executive, legislative, and the judicial powers under his authority; yet he has been unable to control another source of power— Twitter.

    When the Arab uprisings began, Turkey emerged as a role model in the Middle East in terms of combining Islam and democracy. The Arab uprisings have not produced the expected results, except in Tunisia. Meanwhile in Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rule has recently leaned toward authoritarianism and Islamism; this has terminated Turkey’s claim to be a regional model.

    Turkey’s political polarization and societal mistrust became visible in June 2013 with the Gezi protests where police brutality ignited nation-wide protests in which eleven people died and thousands were injured.

    Erdoğan used an Islamist rhetoric to cover-up his provocations and strengthened his conservative constituency. He claimed that the Gezi protestors attacked a woman wearing a headscarf and consumed alcohol in a mosque. Although the evidence showed his claims were false, Erdoğan still continued to repeat them. He tried to take advantage of the Gezi events to solidify his base by presenting himself as the defender of conservative Muslims, assuming that this image would guarantee his victory in the August 2014 presidential election.

    The corruption and bribery probe on December 17, 2013 was a major blow to Erdoğan’s plan of staying in power ten more years as a supra-powerful president. Four of his cabinet ministers had to resign due to allegations. Erdoğan defined the probe as a coup d’état staged by the “parallel state”—an alias he uses to imply the Gülen movement. He declared an “Independence War,” and has dubbed anyone who disagrees with him as “traitors” controlled by the Gülen movement. The list of “traitors” has become very long including the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Doğan media group, Koç Holding, and Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association.

    Similar to his reaction to Gezi events, Erdoğan has used an Islamist rhetoric to preserve his base in the face of the corruption allegations. He has called Fethullah Gülen “a false prophet” and a supporter of the headscarf ban, as well as calling the Gülen movement’s followers spies, collaborators in a US-based conspiracy, lovers of Israel, viruses, blood-seeking vampires, assassins, etc.

    Erdoğan knows that he has to stall ongoing investigations of corruption. Therefore, he has reshuffled about 8,000 police officers and ordered police chiefs to disobey prosecutors and judges in new corruption cases. His new justice minister took control of the High Council of Judges and Public Prosecutors, which removed hundreds of prosecutors. The newly appointed prosecutors destroyed some wiretapped phone calls, and all arrested suspects were released. When the key suspect Reza Zerrab, who allegedly bribed three ministers and transferred billions of dollars to Iran, was released, Erdoğan said, “Justice has been served.”

    Erdoğan has consolidated the executive, legislative, and the judicial powers under his authority; yet he has been unable to control another source of power— Twitter. He understood the danger during the Gezi events, calling it a “menace.” His party organized a group of “trolls” to promote Erdoğan in Twitter. Nonetheless, this could not protect him from being haunted by Twitter during the corruption scandal.

    Some people, probably the policemen and prosecutors who were removed from the corruption cases, started to leak legal evidence (wiretapped phone conversations and even full indictments) to the Internet. They are now using Twitter accounts, such as @HARAMZADELER333 (children of corruption) and @BASCALAN (prime thief) to update over a quarter million followers when they upload new evidence. Since a recent law made it illegal to broadcast wiretapped conservations on TV and on web sites, and Erdoğan controls most newspapers, Twitter and YouTube remain the sole way of informing the Turkish public about corruption evidence. That is why Erdoğan has declared that he is considering banning YouTube and Facebook.

    The content of leaked dialogues has shocked many in Turkey and abroad. Among various topics are Erdoğan’s villas, acquired in exchange for favours to his cronies; his way of controlling media outlets through some businessmen who were given governmental tenders; and his personal involvement in censoring the media. While these recordings were listened to hundreds of thousands times, there was only one occasion when a journalist managed to quiz Erdoğan about them. Erdoğan accused the journalist of serving the conspiracy, and was unapologetic for his phone call to a TV executive to withdraw coverage from an opposition leader during the Gezi events.

    One recording had more impact than the combined effect of about two dozen previous records. This is the recording Erdoğan has defined as a “montage.” He also added that his encrypted phone was tapped, which has been interpreted as an unintentional way of accepting it. The leader of CHP, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, described the recording as, “as authentic as Mount Ararat” and has played it in his party’s group meeting in the Turkish parliament. Some experts have authenticated the recording, which includes five phone calls between Erdoğan and his son (Bilal) on the day the corruption graft began. In the recording, Erdoğan asks his son to re-locate a large sum of money kept in various family members’ houses. Toward the end of the day, Bilal called his father back to report that he had handled most of the money but still had 30 million euros to disappear. This recording has been listened to around 5 million times in five days on YouTube.

    Although Erdoğan’s instrumentalization of Islam was effective against the Gezi protestors, it has not been that helpful against the Gülen movement, which has considerable credibility among Muslim conservatives. Twitter helped the Gezi protestors to organize their protests and during the corruption debates, Twitter has become much more detrimental for Erdoğan due to the regular leaking of evidence. If Erdoğan’s career ends in the March 30 municipal elections, Twitter will have played a large role in this dramatic result.

    http://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/ahmet-t-kuru/corruption-islamism-and-twitter-in-turkey
     
  9. Northside Storm

    Northside Storm Contributing Member

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    Rocketsjudoka posted about this with a much less hyperbolic title---

    nevertheless I'm inclined to lean towards your view on this tbh, from my perspective as an open web advocate, blocking an entire platform of online communication is the most counter-productive thing you can do
     
  10. AroundTheWorld

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    Sorry, I missed that thread. Please feel free to merge or whatever.
     
  11. Deji McGever

    Deji McGever יליד טקסני

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    I already know the answer to that question, but if I told you I would be sent back to FEMA camp in a black helicopter.
     
  12. Orange

    Orange Member

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    Isn't Obama also a socialist dictator. I'm surprised he hasn't banned Twitter.
     
  13. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    This guy Erdogan reminds me of Nixon. A mixed bag at first, and not exactly a guy you could love, but with accomplishments in some areas, only to be brought down by hubris. The belief that the rules apply to everyone else, not to Erdogan. He'll lose the next election, in my opinion.
     
  14. Buck Turgidson

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    Soylent chemtrail is people
     
  15. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Contributing Member
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    Apparently on Clutchfans people only pay attention to hyperbolic titles.
     
  16. LosPollosHermanos

    LosPollosHermanos Houston only fan
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    lol, well said.



    Also, **** twitter. Buck put it nicely in my sig.
     
  17. Dairy Ashford

    Dairy Ashford Member

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    I don't know that it automatically denotes suppression; we ban online gambling sites here.
     
  18. ThatBoyNick

    ThatBoyNick Member

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    Asik must be devistated.
     
  19. Mathloom

    Mathloom Contributing Member

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    He's a moron and desperately clinging to his power. An Islamist, he is not. Publicly, he is not an extremist. Privately, he is less than moderate. To call him an Islamist is actually one of the most xenophobic things you can say, and deflects attention from the lists of immoral and idiotic things he does.

    He is as much an Islamist as Barack Obama is a Christianist. He is more of a Vladimir Putin than a George Bush or a Mohammed Morsi. Inevitably, someone will claim I'm defending him, or that my perception of extremist Islam is too soft. That's a BS cop out, I hate the guy, and I hate political Islam. This is not the image that Muslims have of a guy who is way too Islamic:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Was delighted to see the twitter community **** on his head yesterday.

    [​IMG]
     
  20. AroundTheWorld

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    Why would it be xenophobic? It's widely accepted that he is one. The Financial Times, Washington Post, BBC, Time, all German newspapers including very left-leaning ones call him that. He accepted awards from the Saudis for pushing an Islamist agenda, said there is no such thing as moderate Islam, etc. etc.

    Why are you disagreeing with all these renowned sources, and with the facts? Is it a matter of where you stand yourself?

    You stand alone with this assessment.

    First of all, why list Bush and Morsi in the same column? Again, that shows where in the extremism spectrum you stand. They are not even comparable. Secondly, how does saying that he is similar to Putin in terms of corruption and power hunger (I agree) exclude him being an Islamist as well? Hint: It doesn't, he is both at the same time.

    That's exactly what you are doing.

    Yeah, that's not credible at all, given your posting history.

    So now you are posting cartoons from "Electronic Intifada (URL of the image you posted), which are alleging that he is not hostile enough towards Israel?

    Interesting, and once again shows where you stand.
     

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