Hello, Turkish Democracy! Goodbye, Facebook!
Looks like Facebook will be the next to go in Turkey, which as we all know, is getting more and more democratic by the minute. It is amazing how fast this place is becoming more democratic.
The Turkish minister responsible for communications urged Facebook Inc. on Wednesday to appeal against Turkish court rulings to block access in Turkey to the world’s biggest social networking site. ...
If banned, Facebook would be added to a list of more than 5,000 websites that have been blocked in Turkey since 2007 when an Internet law was introduced to prevent access to child pornography and other harmful content.
Among the most popular blocked sites in Turkey is YouTube, the video-sharing portal.
This is, of course, exactly what we'd expect to see in a country that's hurtling toward democracy.
The Council of Europe also hailed the result of the referendum, calling it a significant step in the country's democratic development. "The constitutional reform approved on Sunday is an important step forward towards bringing the country closer to European standards and practices," Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland said in a statement.
He also said allowing citizens to file complaints directly with the Constitutional Court would provide a "domestic remedy against human rights violations" and "reduce the caseload of the European Court of Human Rights with respect to Turkey."
U.S. President Barack Obama called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday to congratulate him on the “vibrancy of Turkey’s democracy” after results indicated a comfortable victory for the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.
“The president acknowledged the vibrancy of Turkey’s democracy as reflected in the turnout for the referendum that took place across Turkey today,” the White House said in a press release after the leaders' conversation, AFP reported.
I just wonder--who exactly do these craven, ignominious fools think they're kidding?
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Jul '10
Re: Hello, Turkish Democracy! Goodbye, Facebook!
Got that burkha picked out yet, Claire?
Aug '10
Re: Hello, Turkish Democracy! Goodbye, Facebook!
Wow, that's great! Now they can join all the other 'people's democratic republics', like North Korea, Zimbabwe, Yemen, Malawi.... and so many more!
'Democracy' has become code for mob rule leading to Statist totalitarianism, have you noticed? Democracy never has worked, even where it was invented.
Only republics succeed, because they have a deliberative body of legislators acting as a buffer against the passions of the mob.
I recall when this was taught in schools. It's one of the most important things we'll ever learn.
Edited on Oct 7, 2010 at 6:27amOct '10
Re: Hello, Turkish Democracy! Goodbye, Facebook!
I detect just a hint of sarcasm here, Claire. But, maybe this is a move toward democracy in Turkey. Maybe the Turkish majority is moving to the Islamic right as opposed to the "secular" (read humanistic) left.
Jul '10
Re: Hello, Turkish Democracy! Goodbye, Facebook!
River: Democracy never has worked, even where it was invented.
Only republics succeed, because they have a deliberative body of legislators acting as a buffer against the passions of the mob.
I recall when this was taught in schools. It's one of the most important things we'll ever learn. · Oct 7 at 6:26am
Edited on Oct 07 at 06:27 am
Yep, here's a slam dunk case against overweening populism. All the forms of democracy are evident, but any "constitution" that can be changed by simple majority vote is no more than a list of laws and not a constitution at all.
May '10
Re: Hello, Turkish Democracy! Goodbye, Facebook!
At some point, you will need to think about moving. Ricochet is coming up on the list, based on the new definition of "child porn".
May '10
Re: Hello, Turkish Democracy! Goodbye, Facebook!
Priorities, Claire. If Ricochet is banned, you'll have to make a decision. Who do you love more? Us or some scraggly Turkish cats?
Sep '10
Re: Hello, Turkish Democracy! Goodbye, Facebook!
Well, we Pseudonymous Ones will be the first to go.
Re: Hello, Turkish Democracy! Goodbye, Facebook!
Not so fast. There's some of that, but the election results do not represent the real fruit of democracy in action. The system does not look too undemocratic on paper. Turkish political parties are structured, in principle, around district and provincial organizations. Party members elect district delegates, district presidents and board members. Yet Turkish prime ministers have near-dictatorial powers over their political parties and are not embarrassed to use them, In fact, the party members, not voters, pick the party leader. and the leader just gets rid of anyone who doesn't toe the line. Members of Parliament enjoy unlimited political immunity, as do the bureaucrats they appoint. The resulting license to steal money and votes is accepted with alacrity and used with impunity. The AKP does not represent the real will of the people--it represents the will of the party elites. Don't assume this is what voters want.
May '10
Re: Hello, Turkish Democracy! Goodbye, Facebook!
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Not so fast. There's some of that, but the election results do not represent the Don't assume this is what voters want. · Oct 7 at 1:49pm
Seems like we have that problem here too.
Re: Hello, Turkish Democracy! Goodbye, Facebook!
This would really surprise me. Facebook is incredibly popular in Turkey (unsurprisingly, Turks being, to stereotype, incredibly sociable people).
In fact, Turks were until recently the third-most numerous nationality on Facebook. Currently, it looks like Indonesia has snuck past them, though Turkey's still showing very healthy growth.
According to the site linked a couple words further down this sentence, there are currently over 22 million Turks on Facebook. That's 30% of the country's population. Turkey's still a democracy, however imperfect, and, man, that's a lot of voters to tick off.
Re: Hello, Turkish Democracy! Goodbye, Facebook!
Bill, I wouldn't expect the push-back to occur over this. Everyone has become habituated to this sort of thing. People have learned to use proxy servers, open DNS. No one kicked up much of a fuss about YouTube. If people were going to take to the streets about Internet censorship, it would have happened long ago, I suspect. What's so worrying is the lack of concern about the principle of the thing--not just in Turkey, where, one can argue, there is no long-standing tradition of at least paying lip service to open expression, but in the EU. Enter this into the "yes" ledger when asking whether the West is doomed.