Snowcrash and Willhelm, thanks for your comments. I am still trying to find out the "reason" of this blockage.

Turkey is a secular country Willhelm and yes, free speech is a constitutional right. But unfortunately this is not a guarantee alone, for a mature democracy. There are some certain "sensitivities" of the state bureucracy and military, who still resist hard to hold the reins in their hands, and they can always find a "reason" to block access to internet sites or to persecute writers, journalists etc. Last time, it was a video against Ataturk (the founder of the republic) when they blocked access to Youtube for 48 hours. Chances are, this time it's a blog supporting the PKK (K...

Snowcrash and Willhelm, thanks for your comments. I am still trying to find out the "reason" of this blockage.

Turkey is a secular country Willhelm and yes, free speech is a constitutional right. But unfortunately this is not a guarantee alone, for a mature democracy. There are some certain "sensitivities" of the state bureucracy and military, who still resist hard to hold the reins in their hands, and they can always find a "reason" to block access to internet sites or to persecute writers, journalists etc. Last time, it was a video against Ataturk (the founder of the republic) when they blocked access to Youtube for 48 hours. Chances are, this time it's a blog supporting the PKK (Kurdish seperatists) or an "unwanted" blog entry of radical Islamists. I don't know but I'm trying to learn it.

Turkey walked a considerable distance towards democracy and free speech in last twenty years or so, but she still has a long road ahead of her. The good thing is, Turkish youth's reaction to censorship is very strong. I believe this ridiculous blockage will be resolved very soon but it will remain as a shame for Turkish democracy.

This is pretty scary:

Constitution of Turkey
Article 5 Fundamental Aims and Duties of the State
The fundamental aims and duties of the State are; to safeguard the independence and integrity of the Turkish Nation, the indivisibility of the country, the Republic and democracy; to ensure the welfare, peace, and happiness of the individual and society; [i]to strive for the removal of political, social and economic obstacles which restrict the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual in a manner incompatible with the principles of justice and of the social State governed by the rule of law; and to provide the conditions required for the development of the individual...

This is pretty scary:

Constitution of Turkey
Article 5 Fundamental Aims and Duties of the State
The fundamental aims and duties of the State are; to safeguard the independence and integrity of the Turkish Nation, the indivisibility of the country, the Republic and democracy; to ensure the welfare, peace, and happiness of the individual and society; to strive for the removal of political, social and economic obstacles which restrict the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual in a manner incompatible with the principles of justice and of the social State governed by the rule of law; and to provide the conditions required for the development of the individual's material and spiritual existence.

Sounds to me like you don't have very many rights at all.

Sounds to me like the the opposite. That is the duty of the state to defend the rights of individuals (as should be the duty of all governments, specially democracies) and that in this case the goverment is violating its duty to its citizenry. Only you can believe that because a state considers itself secular that means that all power flows from the State, when it fact it flows from the people who have this rights (as human beings) and are the basis not only of the nation-state but also of its society.

Sounds like a good clause to me, although like any such clauses it can be exploited for nefarious ends. I hope that Invictus and his fellow Turks can force the goverment to respect their own...

Sounds to me like the the opposite. That is the duty of the state to defend the rights of individuals (as should be the duty of all governments, specially democracies) and that in this case the goverment is violating its duty to its citizenry. Only you can believe that because a state considers itself secular that means that all power flows from the State, when it fact it flows from the people who have this rights (as human beings) and are the basis not only of the nation-state but also of its society.

Sounds like a good clause to me, although like any such clauses it can be exploited for nefarious ends. I hope that Invictus and his fellow Turks can force the goverment to respect their own laws and not interfere with HIS right to free speech.

We used to have a modern constitution which clearly protected the fundamental rights and liberties, between 1961-1980. But the leaders of 1980 military coup, introduced a new constitution in 1982, which messed everything up. A very simple example is Article 26, which defines free speech:

Article 26 Freedom of Expression and Dissemination of Thought
(1) Everyone has the right to express and disseminate his thoughts and opinion by speech, in writing or in pictures or through other media, individually or collectively. This right includes the freedom to receive and impart information and ideas without interference from official authorities. This provision shall not preclude subjecting t...

We used to have a modern constitution which clearly protected the fundamental rights and liberties, between 1961-1980. But the leaders of 1980 military coup, introduced a new constitution in 1982, which messed everything up. A very simple example is Article 26, which defines free speech:

Article 26 Freedom of Expression and Dissemination of Thought
(1) Everyone has the right to express and disseminate his thoughts and opinion by speech, in writing or in pictures or through other media, individually or collectively. This right includes the freedom to receive and impart information and ideas without interference from official authorities. This provision shall not preclude subjecting transmission by radio, television, cinema, and similar means to a system of licencing.

Sounds vague? Then see the Item 2 now:

(2) The exercise of these freedoms may be restricted for the purposes of preventing crime, punishing offenders, withholding information duly classified as a State secret, protecting the reputation and rights and the private and family life of others, or protecting professional secrets as prescribed by law, or ensuring the proper functioning of the judiciary.

See the tragicomical contradictions?

Turkey has been trying to get rid of this Constitution and replacing it with a comtemporary one which defines and protects basic rights and liberties. AKP is working on a new project; let's wait and see what the state bureucracy and the military will do to keep present constitution.

As for the wordpress censorship, I can say there is a very loud surge of reactions on Turkish web sites. I don't think it will take very long to stop this shameful blockage.

Sounds to me like the the opposite. That is the duty of the state to
defend the rights of individuals (as should be the duty of all
governments, specially democracies) and that in this case the goverment
is violating its duty to its citizenry. Only you can believe that
because a state considers itself secular that means that all power
flows from the State, when it fact it flows from the people who have
this rights (as human beings) and are the basis not only of the
nation-state but also of its society.

Sounds like a good
clause to me, although like any such clauses it can be exploited for
nefarious ends. I hope that Invictus and his fellow Turks can force the
goverment to respect th...

Sounds to me like the the opposite. That is the duty of the state to
defend the rights of individuals (as should be the duty of all
governments, specially democracies) and that in this case the goverment
is violating its duty to its citizenry. Only you can believe that
because a state considers itself secular that means that all power
flows from the State, when it fact it flows from the people who have
this rights (as human beings) and are the basis not only of the
nation-state but also of its society.

Sounds like a good
clause to me, although like any such clauses it can be exploited for
nefarious ends. I hope that Invictus and his fellow Turks can force the
goverment to respect their own laws and not interfere with HIS right to
free speech.

Leave it to Ratilfar to extol the virtues of fascist statism.

invictus's blog said:

Turkey censors Wordpress; blogs can’t be accessed
Posted by invictus under The Net , Turkey , Censorship , Blogging , Wordpress
No Comments

When I tried to post a new entry to my blog a few minutes ago, I came across this page. It says: “Access to this site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/195 of T.C. Fatih 2.Civil Court of First Instance.”

At first, I thought it was my blog but after trying to access Wordpress.com’s main page, I noticed the entire Wordpress.com domain was blocked by the authorities.

Another ridiculous example of censorship on the Internet content, in Turkey. There are hundred thousands of blogs on Wordpress.com and none ca...

invictus's blog said:

Turkey censors Wordpress; blogs can’t be accessed
Posted by invictus under The Net , Turkey , Censorship , Blogging , Wordpress
No Comments

When I tried to post a new entry to my blog a few minutes ago, I came across this page. It says: “Access to this site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/195 of T.C. Fatih 2.Civil Court of First Instance.”

At first, I thought it was my blog but after trying to access Wordpress.com’s main page, I noticed the entire Wordpress.com domain was blocked by the authorities.

Another ridiculous example of censorship on the Internet content, in Turkey. There are hundred thousands of blogs on Wordpress.com and none can be accessed from Turkey now.

This decision of the court is a shame for a country which claims to respect free speech. I protest this unfair blockage on Wordpress and call all the Turkish bloggers to support free speech and to condemn censorship.