Channel NewsAsia
February 7, 2014 Friday 8:04 AM GMT

Turkey faces heavier censorship with new Internet law

by Anna Tuson

ISTANBUL: The European Union (EU) has expressed “serious concerns”
over Turkey’s new Internet law, which approves the blocking of web
pages within hours without a prior court order. The government said
the new law is aimed at protecting individual privacy. But critics
said that with freedom of speech already restricted through bans,
arrests of journalists and alleged pressure by politicians, Turkey is
becoming more conservative.

Censorship in Turkey has a long history. The Ottoman king, Sultan
Abdül Hamid, apparently forbid the word nose from being printed,
because he hated his large nose. In modern-day Turkey, books,
newspapers and other media continue to face heavy censorship.
Political satire, sex and controversial history are frequently banned,
and the offending artists and writers can face fines, job loss and
even imprisonment. Cartoonist Halil Inescu has had 250 pieces of work
censored, and the magazine he works for has even been bombed. After
completing one particularly controversial political cartoon, he was
sentenced to 10 months in prison and banned from drawing political
cartoons for three years. I never self-censored because of the legal
authorities — I count that as a shameful thing. I m really against
self-censorship and censorship. I never accept it, said Halil Inescu.
Artists are not the only ones refusing to accept the status quo.
Journalist Yavuz Baydar was fired from his job as an independent
ombudsman for the Turkish daily newspaper Sabah, after he criticised
the lack of coverage of the Gezi protests. Censorship has always
been a habit, a pattern in Turkish media, mainly because of a culture
of intolerance, but also because of the authorities way of trying to
control public opinion and the flow of opinion, said Yavuz Baydar.
The Turkish Publishers Association has suffered greatly for the right
to voice opinion and talk freely about difficult issues. The books it
produces are often banned the day they are published. But there are
small victories. Ragip Zarakolu, Turkish Publishers Association
chairman, said: My wife, as an editor, was sentenced to two years in
prison because she published a book about the Armenian Genocide, but
we went on to publish books about the genocide, and now it s possible
in Turkey to publish books on it. Today, there are fewer court cases
concerning censorship, but this is mostly because artists are
censoring themselves. While some progress has been made, the use of
censorship is still commonplace. Taboos remain on criticising the
military and government, as well as religion and sex. Meanwhile, those
that value pluralism, debate and democracy will continue to fight for
self-expression and freedom of speech.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress