Turkish parliamentarians offer Internet censorship

PanARMENIAN.Net - A parliamentary committee has approved the decree allowing the Turkish authorities to block web sites exposed as offenders of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The parliament intends to pass the proposal though the date is not known yet, AP reports.



Such a law gives ok to the authorities to block the 'defaulters' as well as web sides of Kurds. "Questioning the state's integrity and offending Ataturk" are criminally punishable crimes in compliance with article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.



The Guardian reminds that Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and writer Elif Shafak stood trial for "insulting Turkishness."



A month ago Turk Telecom was ordered to block access to YouTube, the major portal, which posted video sketches outraging Araturk. Several days later, when the sketches were deleted, Turk Telecom cancelled the ban.