Turkey, the Wordpress ban, and a frustrated blogger

Last week, while I was back in the States visiting family, I decided to write a blog about Istanbul. I decided to use Wordpress.com, because it is quite aesthetically pleasing, among other positive points.

Upon returning to Istanbul and attempting to access Wordpress, however, I found the message that Turkish Wordpress authors and readers have been seeing since August:

Bu siteye erişim mahkeme kararıyla engellenmiştir.

T.C. Fatih 2.Asliye Hukuk Mahkemesi 2007/195 Nolu Kararı gereği bu siteye erişim engellenmiştir.

Access to this site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/195 of T.C. Fatih 2.Civil Court of First Instance.

There are many ways to circumvent this ban, as many Turkish internet-savvy You-tube addicts circumvented the 2-day You-Tube ban in March of this year, as the site was simply blocked Turkey's only Internet service provider - and indeed only phone company - in a way similar to how schools and businesses block "inappropriate" material or social networking sites. As a result, from now on I'll be mirroring this site here on Blogger while also updating my Wordpress account.

Although the buzz on this issue has echoed widely across the blogging world, as it naturally would, it seems to have virtually little to no coverage in traditional internet media sources. The widely covered You-Tube ban was picked up in many major newspapers, but the lesser-known Wordpress hasn't seemed to cause a stir. I think it is a safe assumption to say that is why the You-Tube ban lasted 2 days, while the Wordpress ban has continued since August.

I think it is highly unfortunate that Turkish courts have again chosen censorship of an entire site as a method of dealing with dissent. Even more distasteful seem to be the causes for these bans. Is it dignified to respond to immaturity, i.e. the You-Tube video literally painting Ataturk homosexual? How respectable is it for a court to respond to anyone who is upset with the results when they Google their name?

I do not agree with bloggers who wish to liken Turkey with repressive regimes who heavily restrict internet access to their citizens. I think these recent bans ordered by Turkish courts, seem more the paranoid decisions of anxious naivety than a strong authority to fear. I believe it is worth repeating - who fears an authority that flips out over a You-Tube video?

In an interview with the Turkish Daily News, Elif Şafak makes an interesting comment in this vein. Speaking of the censorship and legal troubles she has faced after publishing her most recent novel The Bastard of Istanbul, she comments

This ultranationalist movement is taking place not because nothing is changing in Turkey, but just the opposite, because things are changing...The bigger the transformation, the bigger their panic.

I am not an apologist on this matter and I am not indifferent to free speech matters. Of course I think the ban should be lifted immediately. I do not, however, think that this should necessarily be seen as "a step backwards" - as if any of us can easily chart "steps" or even know where they are going in such matters. I would instead like to view this "panic" as a response to many changing currents in Turkish society. And, from some perspectives, this is a good thing.

With internet costs in Turkey still quite high but falling, and more users logging on every day, I think we can afford to be a bit optimistic when looking to the future, rather than call Turkey, as did a blogger who recently suspended content on his site, " join[ing] the ranks of firewall enthusiasts like Iran, China and North Korea." Of course the ban is a negative on Turkey's free speech score card. But discussion surrounding this infringement on free speech should be informed and not - like the ban itself - purely reactionary.