VZCZCXRO1286
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAK #0542/01 0681551
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091551Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1278
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHMFIUU/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEAFCC/FCC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-3/J-5//
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU//TCH//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEUITH/TLO ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/TSR ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000542 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
USDOC FOR 4212/ITA/MAC/CPD/CRUSNAK; FCC FOR A THOMAS AND A 
WEINSHENK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ECPS OSCE TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH COURT BLOCKS ACCESS TO "YOUTUBE" WEBSITE 
 
1.(SBU) Summary:  A Turkish court banned access to the 
"YouTube" website on March 7 to block a cartoon video that 
lampooned Turkey's founding father Ataturk as gay.  The video 
was part of a "virtual war" on YouTube between Greeks and 
Turks, each posting videos to demean and provoke the other. 
Turks, especially young people, condemned the Ataturk video 
but were uniformly dismayed and outraged by the court's 
response to ban access.  Newspaper columnists expressed 
criticism and shame.  On Thursday, March 8, the court ruled 
in a new decision that it would lift its prior order if 
YouTube removed the offensive video.  Finally, as of March 9, 
the ban appears to have been lifted.  The YouTube angle of 
Turkey's latest free speech case makes it a hot topic, 
particularly among youth, in this country where Internet use 
is widespread and growing.  A ban on YouTube may be the spark 
needed to motivate the approximately 30 percent of Turkey's 
population that is between 15 and 30 years old to actively 
encourage broader freedom of expression in line with western 
norms.  End summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Turkish Court Rules YouTube Video Insulted Ataturk 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
2.(U) A Turkish court blocked access to the YouTube website 
on Wednesday, March 7, after a prosecutor alleged that videos 
posted on the site violated the 1951 law that prohibits 
"publicly insulting the memory of Ataturk."  Turk Telekom, 
Turkey's dominant telecommunications company and largest 
Internet provider, immediately enforced the ban, and said it 
would allow access to the popular video sharing site again 
only if the court so permitted.  Although access to YouTube 
was reportedly possible through other providers, thousands of 
Turks, unable to access the increasingly popular site, 
emailed YouTube to complain. 
 
3.(U) The case arose out of what Turkish media dubbed a 
"virtual war" on YouTube between Greek and Turkish 
contributors who posted videos designed to demean and provoke 
each other.  After receiving complaints regarding the videos, 
the Istanbul Prosecutors' Office instructed the Istanbul 
police and a prosecutor to examine the videos. The cartoon 
video that prompted the ban lampooned Ataturk and the Turkish 
people as being gay.  The video showed two sophomoric 
cartoon-like clips, less than a minute long, of Ataturk 
making statements about being gay, as the Village People's 
well-known anthem "YMCA" played in the background.  After 
viewing the clips, prosecutor Nurten Altinok determined the 
videos violated the Law Against Insulting Ataturk, and 
applied to an Istanbul court to block access to the site. 
The court agreed, ruling the ban was necessary because, 
"Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Turkey were insulted with swear 
words written in English on Ataturk's photos and to protect 
freedom of expression." 
 
4.(U) On March 8, the court ruled in a new decision that it 
would revoke the ban as soon as it could verify that YouTube 
had removed the offensive video.  The company did so, and by 
the afternoon of March 9 users were again able to access the 
site. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Turks Condemn Video but Outraged by Total Ban 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
5.(SBU) Many Turks roundly condemned the Ataturk video. 
Several diplomats at the MFA expressed outrage in private and 
sent emails to YouTube requesting that the offensive images 
be removed from the website.  Nevertheless, most Turks, 
particularly high school and university students, strongly 
opposed completely blocking access to the site.  One group of 
university students submitted a petition to the Sisli 
Istanbul Penal court requesting the court lift the ban.  The 
petition stated that the students deplored the video at issue 
but stressed that the court was punishing Turkey's citizens 
with the ban.  A student from Ankara's Middle East Technical 
 
ANKARA 00000542  002 OF 002 
 
 
University told us that students are much more concerned with 
lack of access to YouTube than other free expression issues 
the EU and international observers focuses on, such as 
Turkish Penal Code Article 301 (insulting "Turkishness"). 
His anthropology professor, Dr. Aykan Erdemir, hoped the 
YouTube controversy would serve as a wake-up call for Turkish 
students who have generally remained passive in the debate 
over amending Article 301. 
 
6.(U) Turkish media, both mainstream secular and Islamist, 
uniformly criticized the ban.  After the court ruling, senior 
columnists from every major paper wrote of what one called 
"the blunt blow" to freedom of expression.  "Posta" columnist 
Mehmet Ali Birand argued that the ban harmed Turks by 
detaching them from the rest of the world, which remained 
connected to the site.  "Hurriyet's" Cuneyt Ulsever likened 
the court's attitude to that of a small child who thought he 
would be invisible by burying his head under a pillow.  As 
the ban moved into its second day, columnists pointed out 
that the world's attention was now focused on Turkey, and 
speculated that the event would damage Turkey's EU accession 
negotiations.  "Radikal's" Tarhan Erdem reminded readers that 
anything banned would only attract more attention.  "Vatan" 
later reported that a Google search of Ataturk plus "gay" 
resulted in 415,000 hits. 
 
7.(SBU)  In addition to freedom of expression considerations, 
the blockage of YouTube raises serious issues for the 
Information Technology and Telecommunications sectors, and 
for the broader climate for business and investment in 
Turkey.  At a time when the Telecoms sector is growing 
rapidly but still relatively underdeveloped, the YouTube 
blockage sends a very negative signal on unimpeded access to 
the Internet.  For businesses trying to decide where to 
locate, the decision is bound to raise questions about 
whether Turkey can be relied on not to interfere with 
international data flows on which virtually all companies now 
depend. 
 
8.(SBU) Comment:  The Turkish public has until now remained 
relatively detached from freedom of expression debates, such 
as whether to abolish or amend Article 301.  Most Turks view 
such issues as the bailiwick of ivory tower officials from 
diplomatic, academic, and human rights circles.  The YouTube 
controversy hits much closer to home.  Internet use is 
widespread in Turkey and growing in popularity, especially 
among youth.  While these adolescents may not care whether 
Orhan Pamuk or other Turkish writers are prosecuted for 
"insulting Turkishness," they cannot live without access to 
streaming video, music, and chat rooms.  A ban on YouTube may 
be the spark needed to motivate the 30 percent of Turkey's 
population that is between 15 and 30 years old to actively 
encourage broader freedom of expression in line with western 
norms.  End comment. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON