Turkey

The Turkish author Elif Shafak, who was also tried for "insulting Turkishness" following the publication of her novel The Bastard of Istanbul, is one of the authors to sign the letter. "Turkey's rulers need to understand that democracy is not solely about getting a majority of votes in the ballot box. Far beyond that, democracy is a culture of inclusiveness, openness, human rights and freedom of speech, for each and every one, regardless of whichever party they might have voted for. It is the realisation of the very core of democracy that has been sorely lacking in Turkey today," said Shafak, whose trial – based on words uttered by fictional characters in her novel – went on for a year before charges were dropped. … [Read more...] about Turkey and Twitter: major authors join PEN International appeal end to ban

Esra says she does not mind the crackdown on internet freedom. "We never used Twitter – it's a silly thing anyway. It's good that they closed it. There was a lot of bad language, too," she says. "I do use Facebook, but it would be good if they closed that, too, because it's so distracting. Nobody talks to each other any more. If they closed that, we would read more and talk more. That wouldn't be so bad." … [Read more...] about Erdogan’s name and face dominate as Turkey heads to the polls

According to Turkish media reports, the decision to block YouTube was taken by Turkey’s telecommunications authority (TİB) as a “precautionary administrative measure.” In February, Turkey passed a much criticised new internet law that allows the telecommunications regulator to block websites without a court order. Turkey previously banned YouTube in 2007, but lifted the ban three years later. … [Read more...] about Turkey blocks YouTube amid ‘national security’ concerns

AKP municipalities and companies close to the government provide public space, making Erdogan the most visible candidate. According to local media reports, state broadcaster TRT devoted 533 minutes to the prime minister between 4 and 6 July, while Ihsanoglu was covered for little more than three minutes and Demirtas for a mere 45 seconds. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said large-scale government events, such as the inauguration of a new high-speed train, were often combined with Erdogan's campaign activities. … [Read more...] about Recep Tayyip Erdogan the favourite to win Turkey’s first presidential election

Initially, Turkish internet service providers (ISPs) were simply redirecting traffic to a government webpage by forcing the DNS servers, which send to the correct IP addresses for the site they are trying to access, to redirect away from Twitter's homepage. … [Read more...] about Turkey steps up bid to block Twitter after users flout ban