The Man Bit the Dog
YouTube is online in Turkey today! After consequent court bans, the logic of the reporting YouTube stories has changed. Now it is news when YouTube is NOT banned.
As we're enjoying the YouTube connection nowadays, I would like to whisper a conspiracy theory, which can indeed be the truth: It is said that the real reason of the recent ban was not the videos that defame Ataturk.
The user who posted those videos has got other insulting videos against Turkish President Abdullah Gul and PM Tayyip Erdogan as well. The rumour is that the target of Turkish government was to avoid its people to see those clips. The cause about "protecting Ataturk" was just a pretext. . .
Well, I can easily believe in this theory, because Erdogan government has got a bad record when it comes to facing criticism. Sueing cartoonists, trying to prison journalists, etc...
By the way, I don't think that another YouTube ban would come into force in the near future, especially by relying on the same justification about Ataturk. Because a massive amount of Turkish users finally discovered the "Flag" option of YouTube. Just after the abolishing of the recent ban, thousands of Turkish users flagged those really disgusting videos as "inappropriate" and YouTube acted quickly to suspend the users. So there is no need for court decisions now, as long as the people keep reacting.
PS: Those YouTube users -who are sympathizing with the terrorist organization PKK- were kebab2008 and bourjhamoudkebab.
The Istanbulian Personal Chronicles of a Turkish Journalist
