Cyprus-Forum.com

by **Get Real!** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:57 pm

Paphitis wrote:
Get Real! wrote:
Lit wrote:Turkey bans another Internet site

Big deal!

Have you bothered to check what the US and Australia are doing with their Internet access, or is Turkey the only country you’re ever worried about?

We ban child pornography sites. No wonder you don't like Australia. Your such a weirdo....

Such up little Paphiti because unkie knows what he's talking about...

http://www.cyprus-forum.com/cyprus25873.html

Australia's woes are in another thread...

by **Paphitis** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:02 pm

Paphitis wrote:
Get Real! wrote:
Lit wrote:Turkey bans another Internet site

Big deal!

Have you bothered to check what the US and Australia are doing with their Internet access, or is Turkey the only country you’re ever worried about?

We ban child pornography sites. No wonder you don't like Australia. Your such a weirdo....

Furthermore, the Australian Government has not yet ratified any proposed legislation as it is unable to do so because the Labour Party does not have a majority in the Senate and the Liberal Party is opposing any form of internet censorship.

The ACMA only has a blacklist of various child pornography, euthanasia, and satanic sites it wants to censor, but the legislation will not pass unless the laws are watered down or amended.

n 2008, the Australian Labor Party introduced a policy of mandatory Internet filtering for all Australians. While the policy has not yet come into force, it has generated substantial opposition, with only a few groups in support. The Labor Party does not have enough votes in the Senate to enact any legislation to support the filter, so that the filter has "effectively been scuttled" unless the government is able to implement the filter by other means.[1][2]

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) maintains a blacklist, since leaked,[3] of websites which would form the basis for the mandatory filter. It has issued a take-down notice and threatened fines of $11,000 per day to at least one website hosted in Australia which contained a link to material on this blacklist.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_c ... _Australia

Re posted so that you can read my links to this proposed legislation!

At the moment there is no censorship of anything, but the proposed laws don't seem so bad if they target child pornography.

You thread above is pure rubbish and is about the US not Australia...

You are getting your countries confused.... :lol:

by **Oracle** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:10 pm

Get Real! wrote:Check this out from 2002…

I wish they would ban gambling sites as they proposed .... :roll:

The worry is when scientific or informative sites, or ones where people can exercise some free speech are banned and so far Turkey takes the biscuit ... Article 301 anyone?

by **Paphitis** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:14 pm

Oracle wrote:
Get Real! wrote:Check this out from 2002…

I wish they would ban gambling sites as they proposed ....

The worry is when scientific or informative sites, or ones where people can exercise some free speech are banned and so far Turkey takes the biscuit ... Article 301 anyone?

Let him go.

I find it quite amusing how GR! is now defending Turkey by ignoring Article 301, whilst jumping at any opportunity to attack Greece and then have the audacity to make comment on any other nation such as Australia, US or UK, whilst defending North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and even China... :lol:

I think he is just trying to be funny... :lol:

by **Get Real!** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:31 pm

Paphitis wrote:I find it quite amusing how GR! is now defending Turkey by ignoring Article 301....

I don’t appreciate Greek Nationalists like Clit, wasting our time here with 2-cent stories that only contribute to the usual “Greece vs Turkey” feuds.

They can shove their 2-cent arguments up their world-renowned Hellenic bums for all I care.

by **Get Real!** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:34 pm

Wise man from Peking, he say: “Glass houses…. stones… don’t throw!”

:lol:

by **Paphitis** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:38 pm

Get Real! wrote:
Paphitis wrote:I find it quite amusing how GR! is now defending Turkey by ignoring Article 301....

I don’t appreciate Greek Nationalists like Clit, wasting our time here with 2-cent stories that only contribute to the usual “Greece vs Turkey” feuds.

They can shove their 2-cent arguments up their world-renowned Hellenic bums for all I care.

The fact that Turkey does not meet EU standards on freedom of the press, and Human Rights is very relevant especially since it is trying to become an EU member whilst still occupying Cyprus.

I think it is important to highlight the vast differences between Cyprus and Turkey, and Article 301 is just one aspect of that!

This is more like a Cyprus V's Turkey feud, but you come along and turn it into a Greece V's Turkey V's US V's Australia V's UK fued... :lol:

by **Lit** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:34 am

Paphitis wrote:
The fact that Turkey does not meet EU standards on freedom of the press, and Human Rights is very relevant especially since it is trying to become an EU member whilst still occupying Cyprus.

Indeed.

_ _ _ _ _

Turkey slips to bottom one-third for press freedom

Hurriyet Daily News.com (20.10.09) reported the following from Istanbul:
“Turkey is performing worse each year as far as freedom of the press is concerned, according to a report released by Reporters without Borders, or RSF. The ‘Press Freedom Index 2009’ report released on Tuesday shows that, in the past year, Turkey has slipped 20 places, from 102 to 122 among 175 countries.

The world’s leading press watchdog, Reporters without Borders, or Reporters Sans Frontières, is a Paris-based international non-governmental organization that advocates the freedom of the press.

The index shows that although Europe still holds the top 13 places in the list, with Denmark at the head, countries such as France, Slovakia, and Italy fell eight, 37 and five places respectively.

Journalists in Iran and Israel have had a difficult year. Ranking 172nd, Iran comes just above what RSF called the ‘infernal trio’ of Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea. Israel no longer tops Middle Eastern countries. Listed 93rd, it has dropped 47 places and has been overtaken by Lebanon, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

The index also shows the effect U.S. President Barack Obama has had as the United States rose 20 places in the year since he took office. It is now level with Britain in 20th place.

Press freedom in Turkey loosing ground
‘Although I have always been sceptical about rankings of all kinds, I believe that the RSF’s worldwide index should be taken as an indicator of how press freedom in Turkey is rapidly losing ground,’ said Associate Professor Asli Tunc, vice dean of the school of communication at Bilgi University. She said, ‘we were not proud of our previous rankings either, but our latest spot is simply embarrassing and it should be interpreted as a wake-up call for the political establishment.’

‘In Turkey, there are numerous articles in the press law, in the criminal code, and the law for combating terrorism that are unsuitable for the freedom of the press,’ said Hurriyet columnist Ferai Tinc in an interview with the Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review. Tinc is also the International Press Institute’s, or IPI, Turkish national committee chairperson.

Tinc said reporters were subject to harsh penalties for what they write, adding that, ‘a jail sentence for reporters is not acceptable for democratic countries. No journalist can be sentenced to jail for what he or she writes. Furthermore, monetary fines [given to reporters to penalize them for what they write] are unreasonably high.’

Turkey was among the countries that suffered a big slump. ‘Two candidates for EU membership also suffered dramatic falls. They were Croatia (78th), which fell 33 places, and Turkey (122nd), which fell 20 places,’ read the RSF report.

‘Turkey’s big fall was due to a surge in cases of censorship, especially censorship of media that represent minorities (above all the Kurds), and efforts by members of government bodies, the armed forces and the judicial system to maintain their control over coverage of matters of general interest,’ the report said.

DMG case a major cause
Tinc believes the Dogan tax fine case, which was also criticized in the recent European Union Progress Report, is an issue that drags Turkey down in terms of press freedom. ‘The eradication campaign by the [Turkish] government against the Dogan Media Group [or DMG] for the past one year creates an environment that not only threatens the DMG but the whole of [the free Turkish] press,’ she said.

Another one to believe the DMG tax fine case has been instrumental in Turkey’s dramatic fall is Tunc. ‘The colossal tax fine on DMG is a big blow to the free press and it is getting a lot of coverage in the foreign media also because of its connection with the German media group, Axel Springer,’ she said.

Tunc added: ‘In addition to the Prime Minister’s call to boycott DMG newspapers and his escalated verbal attacks on the group, there has come an effective tool to mute the voice of opposition: the tax fine. So this must have been noted as a negative development on the index.’

Internet ban and closings
Other events of the past year have also violated the principles of free press, Tinc said. ‘Many television channels and newspapers have been given closure penalties in the past one year. YouTube is banned; an Internet ban is a practice that is applied only in countries with autocratic governments that have nothing to do with democracy,’ she said, adding that ‘democratic steps should be taken in terms of press freedom.’

Tunc agrees with Tinc that the Internet bans, as well as the closing of newspapers have also constituted a breach of press freedom and has caused Turkey’s slip. ‘Turkey keeps blocking a large number of Web sites under law 5651 including YouTube, Daily motion and Google Groups. Also, in the midst of efforts of democratization, daily and weekly newspapers that defend Kurdish rights have been banned for one-month for allegedly promoting the cause of the PKK,’ Tunc said. ‘So this mentality easily puts us in the same league with countries like Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh in terms of press freedom.’

The RSF compiles the index on the basis of questionnaires completed by hundreds of journalists and media experts around the world. The index reflects press freedom violations that took place between September 1, 2008 and August 31, 2009.”

_ _ _ _ _

Here is the hurriyet article:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php? ... 2009-10-20