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Tag: tibet

  • Turkey seeks names of YouTube’s Ataturk insulters from U.S. government

    Hurriyet Daily News reports the following:

    Turkey seeks names of YouTube's Ataturk insulters from U.S. gov't article

    Excuse me? Is this the Soviet Union I’m living in? In the past I’ve made a comparison between Turkey and China regarding the freedom of the press and I also said at the time that it was an exaggerated comparison, as Turkey’s press enjoys a lot more freedom than China’s. But this, this has not been equaled by China, I believe.

    This summer we saw American Tibetan activists hold demonstrations in China during the Olympic games; they could not have done that if they got detained upon entering the country. Yes, they were arrested and deported, but only after committing a criminal fact in China. Most of their names could have and should have been known to the Chinese government. They write about the Tibetan cause publicly.

    What this prosecuter is asking for is detestable and I am shocked and outraged.

    “Those YouTube users determined to be living outside Turkey will be detained upon entering the country.”

    Detained and then what? Imprisoned for insulting Turkey? They did not commit any illegal acts if they published these videos outside of Turkey, unless they are Turkish citizens, which might make it illegal. If I were to say “the US is a big pile of smelly cowdung”, I cannot be arrested upon entering the US. If I however threaten someone in the US, particularly government officials, there’s a good case for them to find out my name and to detain me upon entering the country. What this prosecutor is asking for is to limit the freedom of speech with matters pertaining to Turkey worldwide.

    The whole YouTube ban is pointless anyway. Research in Alexa.com’s traffic ranking system has shown that YouTube is the 10th most popular site in Turkey. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan surprised everyone when he stated that even he uses YouTube.

    In other news Hurriyet reports the following:

    ““There was a vigorous internal debate between Wong and her colleagues at the top of Google’s legal pyramid.” Wong, who had to play mediator, decided that Google, by using a technique called IP blocking, would prevent access to videos that clearly violated Turkish law, but only in Turkey. For a time, this solution seemed to work for the Turkish judges, who reopened access to YouTube.

    But last June a Turkish prosecutor made a demand that Google block access to the offending videos all over the world, to protect the rights and sensitivities of Turks living outside the country. Google refused, arguing that one nation’s government should not be able to set limits of speech for Internet users worldwide. As a result Youtube has remained blocked in Turkey.”

    Me: Hey Twitter! Some guy on your network said my site sucks and used some profanity. I feel really insulted. Can you ban the entire network from saying bad things about me? Oh you can just make it so that my IP address can not see it anymore? Well, I’ll be using proxies to see it anyway, but I’d prefer if you would make any insulting depictions of my site invisible all around the world.

    FAIL.

    The vice president of the European Parliament’s Human Rights Sub-Committee, Howitt, criticized the ban, saying that around 1,000 websites are blocked in Turkey and this places the country alongside some of the world’s worst nations for cyber censorship.

    The information age is here and it’s never going away. You’re a really marvelous country Turkey, but it’s time to do something about these ridiculous prosecutions.

    BasBasBas.com is about a Dutch student living in Istanbul. I regularly write about my adventures in Istanbul and travels in the region. If you’d like to stay up to date, you can subscribe to my RSS feed or get email updates in your inbox. You can also follow me on Twitter.

  • PhotoHunt: Wrinkled

    I took this shot during the Global Day of Action for Tibet on the Dam square in Amsterdam. Besides this being one of the few pictures that corresponded with the theme, I also feel quite strong about the Tibetan issue. If you haven’t already, check out the BBC documentary “Undercover in Tibet” (for free via the link).

    To see the whole album of pictures I took during the Global Day of Action, click here.

    If you have a wrinkled picture of your own to share and you’re a PhotoHunter, be sure to leave your name and a direct link to the post below! All PhotoHunt posts get Stumbled!

    Technorati: PhotoHunt

    Previous PhotoHunts.

  • One World, One Dream?

    Even though they haven’t caught the spotlight of the big media, there’s quite a bit of ‘Tibetan’ protesting going on in Beijing. One of the protests was on Tiananmen square and lasted for ten minutes before the participants were detained and deported. Have a look at this video:




    Students for a Free Tibet sent the following statements:

    As China kicked off the 2008 Beijing Olympics yesterday, Tibetans and supporters in every part of the world staged hunger strikes, protest marches, solidarity vigils, and other direct actions to highlight China’s oppression in Tibet.

    Just hours ago, five Tibet supporters held a dramatic protest in Tiananmen Square, calling for an end to the Chinese government’s occupation of Tibet. Four of the activists, lying down and draped in Tibetan national flags, staged a mock die-in with the famous portrait of Chairman Mao in the background. A fifth activist spoke about their reason for protesting there today. They were detained by security ten minutes after the protest began.

    Yesterday, three Tibet supporters, including SFT’s Grassroots Coordinator Kalaya’an Mendoza, protested near the entrance of the Bird’s Nest stadium, wearing Team Tibet t-shirts and holding up Tibetan flags in the air. Within 40 seconds, security guards tackled them to the ground. They were detained for several hours before they were deported. We are also happy to inform you that Iain, Lucy, Phil and Tirian – the four activists who were part of the banner hang action outside the Olympic stadium – are safely home after receiving a warm welcome from their friends, family and local Tibetans in their respective home countries.

    Meanwhile, Chemi Dolkar, a Tibetan-American who traveled to Beijing to speak out for Tibetan freedom, was detained at Beijing Airport for 15 hours and eventually deported. Chemi arrived in her hometown Minneapolis last night, and right now she is speaking with the media to keep the Tibetan plight in the spotlight. Many dozens of Tibetans planning to go to Beijing to protest against the Chinese government have been denied entry into China.

    The world is watching China today as the Olympics begin, and with the hundreds of actions taking place around the world – from Delhi to Kathmandu, Brussels to London, New York to San Francisco, Hong Kong to Toronto, and many more – the voices of the Tibetan people will be heard loud and clear despite the attempts of the Chinese authorities to silence them.

    Continue to check out www.freetibet2008.org for further updates on the global uprising for Tibet and to find out how you can join actions in areas near you.

    To support SFT’s continued efforts for Tibetan freedom, please make a donation today.

    Tibet will be free,

    Lhadon, Tendor, Kate, Heather, Han, Amy and the whole SFT HQ crew

    Great message I’d say.

    Meanwhile, during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, some Burmese people were commemorating the 08/08/’88 events.

    The demonstrations of 1988 culminated in a massive nation-wide show of People Power on August 8 in which hundreds of thousands of people marched to demand a change in government. These peaceful demonstrations were violently crushed by army troops who fired relentlessly on the unarmed crowds in Rangoon and other cities killing more than 10,000 student, civilian and Buddhist monk protesters throughout the country. Thousands were arrested. (Burmawatch)

    It’s a shame that we seem to have forgotten about Burma and I’m taking this opportunity to put another spotlight on the situation there. Burma Global Action Network just released an exclusive video from the International Burmese Monks Organisation containing a plea to the international community.



    Visit the sites mentioned and find out what you can do.

  • NO TORCH IN TIBET!

    Just one month left!

    Torch scheduled in Shannan Diqu on June 19. Then in Tibet’s capital Lhasa June 20-21. It would be a disgrace if we let this happen! Speak up, speak out! Watch British Channel 4’s documentary “Undercover In Tibet”.

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