First of all, I have close connections with turks, my online gf lives in turkey and I went to turkey on my own to meet her and her family, I spend 2 weeks there living like a turk, it's not alot but I learned alot of how life is in turkey, now I study turkish weekly. My experience in turkey was amazing, Istanbul is a wonderful place, I live in a small town in belgium so the contrast was huge. I loved being in Turkey.
Turkey would've been a perfect country, a mix between culture and progress but it's all ruined by some things.
For example, what's the deal with censorship there, today they banned sites containing the words (forbid, anal, breath, etc)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-forbids-8216forbidden8217-from-internet-domain-names-2011-04-28
For a long while they banned youtube because there were some anti-ataturk videos on it. I agree Ataturk was important for turkey, he's the reason of all the progress but not accepting any criticism about him is just stupid. Sure, alot of anti-ataturk videos might've been pure slander, not supported by any fact but that's the internet, a place where everyone can say something. By not accepting the slightest criticism I would start to find it suspicious, like they have something to hide.
The reason for the latest censorship is to protect the children...so what about the adults? They have to pay so their children can surf the web safely? Since when does the state need to come in to say what's good or bad for your own child. It's the parent's job to protect them from unwanted sites.
Another problem according to me is the people. I've met alot of turks, in turkey, here and online, they're nice people but alot of them are patriots with a strong sense of morals. Alot of times there's a shooting in Belgium it's because a turk shot his gf or the new bf of his ex gf. And shootings are quite rare here since there's a tougher weapon law so every time there's a shooting somewhere it's in the news. Alot of turks, especially the ones that live in Turkey, love Turkey to the extreme, pure patriotism. Now I don't know about you guys but I really dislike any train of thought that prohibits a person of accepting criticism about something.
Turkey could be a great country, it has alot of potential, it could become part of the EU if they wanted. I want to love Turkey because the time I spend there was the best experience I've ever had, but the way it is now dissapoints me. Instead of going the way of democracy and freedom it's going the way of censorship and radicalism and I don't want that to happen.
But what causes all this? Why is this country heading backwards?
Turkey would've been a perfect country, a mix between culture and progress but it's all ruined by some things.
For example, what's the deal with censorship there, today they banned sites containing the words (forbid, anal, breath, etc)
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-forbids-8216forbidden8217-from-internet-domain-names-2011-04-28
For a long while they banned youtube because there were some anti-ataturk videos on it. I agree Ataturk was important for turkey, he's the reason of all the progress but not accepting any criticism about him is just stupid. Sure, alot of anti-ataturk videos might've been pure slander, not supported by any fact but that's the internet, a place where everyone can say something. By not accepting the slightest criticism I would start to find it suspicious, like they have something to hide.
The reason for the latest censorship is to protect the children...so what about the adults? They have to pay so their children can surf the web safely? Since when does the state need to come in to say what's good or bad for your own child. It's the parent's job to protect them from unwanted sites.
Another problem according to me is the people. I've met alot of turks, in turkey, here and online, they're nice people but alot of them are patriots with a strong sense of morals. Alot of times there's a shooting in Belgium it's because a turk shot his gf or the new bf of his ex gf. And shootings are quite rare here since there's a tougher weapon law so every time there's a shooting somewhere it's in the news. Alot of turks, especially the ones that live in Turkey, love Turkey to the extreme, pure patriotism. Now I don't know about you guys but I really dislike any train of thought that prohibits a person of accepting criticism about something.
Turkey could be a great country, it has alot of potential, it could become part of the EU if they wanted. I want to love Turkey because the time I spend there was the best experience I've ever had, but the way it is now dissapoints me. Instead of going the way of democracy and freedom it's going the way of censorship and radicalism and I don't want that to happen.
But what causes all this? Why is this country heading backwards?