Meanwhile in Turkey

[Mermaid]

1st twitter, now Youtube blocked. How long will that wall stay up?


http://rt.com/news/turkey-block-youtube-twitter-64...

[heppers75]

They have form, they had YouTube blocked for a while not so long ago.

I do love the place but it has some interesting issues!

[Mermaid]

Almost 25 years after the Berlin wall came down, are the Turkish authorities justified in putting these walls up?

[whoami]

Coincidentally, this interesting piece was published today in The Economist.

http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21599819-incr...

[discusdave]

said by "them"...

recording purports to be of senior Turkish government, military and spy officials discussing a military intervention in neighbouring Syria - a hugely contentious issue in Turkey.

The officials allegedly debate plans to stage an armed clash in Syria or a missile attack that would serve as justification for intervention....

nothing like a good false flag op, to rally the "people" round ..

[heppers75]

whoami said:

heppers75 said:

Johnnytheboy said:

Good. The further from Western democracy style government Turkey moves, the less likely the EU is to let them join.

Spent a lot of time there and have experience of the place that leads you to this conclusion I trust?

Coincidentally, this interesting piece was published today in The Economist.

http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21599819-incr...

Thank god someone who is going to do this the right way.

Erdogan is going to get a shoeing, AK vs the world is interesting. He has got it wrong by our standards but he is so very popular where it counts. I have spent a massive amount of time there and give me a kicking I love the place. Istanbul is my very favourite city and we have a holiday home on the coast (not Bodrum!).

I was in Istanbul on Friday and I am back there the week after next, I have residency there so I am committed to the place.

It is an interesting proposition to see if the corruption outweighs the need to be on a global stage.

[smegmore]

I've worked there on the BP pipeline project '03-'04 from the Georgian border down to Erzerum so I think I'm qualified to comment.

The place is a 3rd world dump, perhaps the big cities such as Istanbul would be marginally better but certainly the areas where I worked left much to be desired. To see men and women urinating and defecating in a village street is a sight I won't forget and the smaller villages where the houses looked like they were on the verge of collapse all had satellite dishes and (according to legend) a Kalashnikov behind every front door.

The Jandarma (paramilitary police) were as corrupt as you would find anywhere in Africa, spot fines for carrying 'contraband items' were commonplace. And don't even get me started on being stopped and spot fined for 'speeding'

Anyone who says that it is on a par with a western European country must be on drugs, particularly where the interior is concerned.

[SpeedMattersNot]

smegmore said:

I've worked there on the BP pipeline project '03-'04 from the Georgian border down to Erzerum so I think I'm qualified to comment.

The place is a 3rd world dump, perhaps the big cities such as Istanbul would be marginally better but certainly the areas where I worked left much to be desired. To see men and women urinating and defecating in a village street is a sight I won't forget and the smaller villages where the houses looked like they were on the verge of collapse all had satellite dishes and (according to legend) a Kalashnikov behind every front door.

The Jandarma (paramilitary police) were as corrupt as you would find anywhere in Africa, spot fines for carrying 'contraband items' were commonplace. And don't even get me started on being stopped and spot fined for 'speeding'

Anyone who says that it is on a par with a western European country must be on drugs, particularly where the interior is concerned.

That's quite worrying.

I can only personally speak for a few Turkish guys I knew from school.

One lad, during the 2 minutes silence proposed at my senior school for the September 11th disaster, stated before the bell went "I'll pay my respects to the innocent people who died, if you all pay your respects to the hi-jackers for their bravery". It still harrows me to this day.

Not entirely related I know, but I've heard from many people it's just like a lot of Spain. Along the lines of "It'll be nice when it's finished".

The fact a country so close to us is banning such things is very bizarre. That does concern me.

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

Lol. Despite the rapid and diverting 'handbags' that manifested itself quite early on in the thread, may I take it back on track, and ask a clearly silly and ignorant question pur-lease?

Thanks

Question is - WHY is Turkey censoring / blocking certain internetz? Is it because of the general Muslimism? Or a far more political agenda, 'a-la China's?'

Would be interested to knows, thanks...

[whoami]

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

Lol. Despite the rapid and diverting 'handbags' that manifested itself quite early on in the thread, may I take it back on track, and ask a clearly silly and ignorant question pur-lease?

Thanks

Question is - WHY is Turkey censoring / blocking certain internetz? Is it because of the general Muslimism? Or a far more political agenda, 'a-la China's?'

Would be interested to knows, thanks...

Censorship, plain and simple.

[heppers75]

Oh hell and I am headed there I am defending Muslims!

It is a wonderful culture and I love the place. To say there are radicals and they are Turkish SMN is mmmm inflammatory, I know evangelical christians that would say anything to get a vote.

Erdogan has screwed this up...

Also if you had a business here 10 years ago... great... I had one then and I have one now... Light years apart!

[heppers75]

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

Lol. Despite the rapid and diverting 'handbags' that manifested itself quite early on in the thread, may I take it back on track, and ask a clearly silly and ignorant question pur-lease?

Thanks

Question is - WHY is Turkey censoring / blocking certain internetz? Is it because of the general Muslimism? Or a far more political agenda, 'a-la China's?'

Would be interested to knows, thanks...

Fear, he is a fearful man on the defensive.

[Foppo]

Had some good holidays in Turkey always well looked after and I like their food.

Not sure about the country being a third world dump.I've seen some estates here which aren't to pleasant.>

[smegmore]

I've had some good holidays there too, the Med coast is a different country almost, totally different to the interior.

[Kinky]

As Al posted previously, thread tidied up, handbags removed (one permanently).

So hopefully all the will stop now

Lets keep it vaguely civil please.

[heppers75]

Kinky said:

As Al posted previously, thread tidied up, handbags removed (one permanently).

So hopefully all the will stop now

Lets keep it vaguely civil please.

Not sure that is right Kinky... He was wrong but he deserves an opportunity to put it right.

[Mermaid]

Thank you Al, thank you Kinky.

Turkey has a mega number of highly educated individuals and a burgeoning middle class - curbing their freedom will merely challenge the Government's position.

[Mermaid]

In the WSJ

Turkish Masquerade

The Turkish government's grip on the Internet seems to be getting tighter. U.S. firms—Google, Level 3 Communications and OpenDNS—allege that Turkish telecommunications companies impersonated their servers to block access to social-media sites—an apparent escalation, we note, of efforts by Ankara to block dissent amid critical elections. Google explained in a blog that the technique was similar to tinkering with the listings in a phone book. OpenDNS Chief Executive David Ulevitch said in a statement: "This hijacking of our traffic represents an escalation of censorship and data manipulation by the Turkish government that we have not ever seen previously anywhere outside of China." The allegations come as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to have scored a decisive victory in local elections, raising the odds that he will seek the presidency. We report, however, that his rivals alleged vote-rigging and a political witch-hunt—an indication that the election hasn't eased the country's increasing polarization.

[BlackLabel]

Erdogan didn't like what Turkey's most popular newspaper was writing so his government has seized it.

guardian said:

Turkish riot police have fired plastic bullets and teargas to disperse protesters who gathered outside the country’s top-selling newspaper the day after it was seized by authorities in a violent raid.

The swoop on Zaman in Istanbul raised fresh concerns over declining media freedoms in Turkey – a key EU ally – ahead of a visit by the country’s prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, to Brussels on Monday for a crucial summit meeting with EU leaders.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/04/turkish-police-fire-teargas-and-enter-top-selling-newspaper-after-seizure-order

[Oakey]

Yeah but once they're in the club it'll be easier to make them change their ways. Or something.