Wednesday, August 3, 2022
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
NEWSLETTER
ՀԱՅ
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
ՀԱՅ
No Result
View All Result

Turkish Censors Target Google with New Bans

by Asbarez Staff
June 8, 2010
in International, News, Top Stories
5
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

ISTANBUL (The Register)–Turkey’s web users again bear the brunt of heavy-handed censorship as the Telecommunications Presidency (TIB) has banned multiple Google services, according to reports, including Google Translate, Google Docs, and Google Books.
According to the International Business Times, the TIB released a statement last Thursday saying said it had banned many Google IP addresses because of “legal reasons.”But it did not elaborate those reasons. The statement said that some addresses are completely inaccessible while others are merely slow to load. Reports claim problems with Google AppEngine, FeedBurner, AdWords, and Analytics as well as Google Translate, Google Docs, and Google Books. Apparently, the ban began on June 4.
But Google has said it believes these services were banned accidentally and that it’s working with the Turkish government to solve the problem. “We have received reports that some Google applications are unable to be accessed in Turkey,” reads a statement from the company. “The difficulty accessing some Google services in Turkey appears to be linked to the ongoing ban on YouTube. We are working to get our services back up as soon as possible.”
Turkish authorities have continuously blocked access to YouTube since May 2008, after users uploaded videos that insulted the Turkish republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. And the government previously banned the video-sharing site on at least three other occasions.
Apparently, the first ban, in 2007, was a response to a parody news broadcast in which Greek football fans taunted the Turks by saying: “Today’s news; Kemal Ataturk was gay!” Under Turkish law–Law 5651–the courts can shut down any website that defames Ataturk or incites suicide, pedophilia, drug usage, obscenity, or prostitution.
The original video was taken down, but prosecutors have since objected to countless other videos insulting Ataturk.
Whether accidental or not, free-press outfit Reporters Without Boarders condemned Turkish authorities for extending the ban beyond YouTube, as it has long criticized the YouTube ban. “It is time the Turkish authorities demonstrated their commitment to free expression by putting an end to the censorship that affects thousands of websites in Turkey and by overhauling Law 5651 on the Internet, which allows this sort of mass blocking of sites,” Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.
“The censorship of YouTube in particular seems to be an archaic form of control, one that prevents Turks from accessing Web 2.0’s potential… [this] trend has been accentuated by the current problems in accessing other services provided by Google, which are widely used by Turkish Internet users,” the statement added.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) estimates that about 3,700 websites are “blocked for arbitrary and political reasons” in Turkey, including foreign websites, sites aimed at the country’s Kurdish minority, and gay sites.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Turkey’s communications minister has called on Google to register as a taxpayer in the country, saying this would hasten a move towards lifting the YouTube ban. “The company should open a representation,” Transport and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday. “YouTube is a taxpayer in 20 countries, and we want them to do the same in Turkey.”
Google, in response, said it does not operate servers in Turkey, but will work with the government to resolve this issue. “Google complies with tax law in every country in which it operates,” reads another statement from the company. “We are currently in discussion with the Turkish authorities about this, and are confident we comply with Turkish law. We report profits in Turkey which are appropriate for the activities of our Turkish operations.”

Tags: Turkey
Asbarez Staff

Asbarez Staff

Next Post

Azerbaijan Threatens to Blacklist French MPs Visiting Karabakh

Comments 5

  1. john papazian says:
    12 years ago

    Almost as bad as North Korea,right?Although they do need to keep a lid on things,the Kurdish genocide is not that far off.

    Reply
  2. Edward says:
    12 years ago

    Google is responsible for the jailing by the chinese commies of many dissidents & human rights activists and there have been protests by chinese against the cooperation between Google & the chinese authorities sending many to prison.Goggly Google will comply happily with the turkish officials in order to keep its business profits.As for Ataturk being a gay-thats a bloody insult for gay people everywhere – he was she in male disguise so `his` right name should be Anaturk.

    Reply
  3. Yanni Czelig says:
    12 years ago

    Unforrtunately for the Turks, Ataturk is a mass murderer. May 19, 1918 in his infamous speech Ataturk said: Turkey belongs to the Turks… this meant of course the annihilation of native non Turkish communities such as the Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians… and it extends now to the Kurds. More than 2 million people of the aforementioned communities have been purged while millions of others were cleansed from their ancestral homes. If Hitler had won World War II, he would probably hold in Germany the same revered position that Ataturk holds today in Turkey… The subsequent path of history does not change the bloody, genocidal and fascist legacy of either leader. It’s true Ataturk kept the territorial integrity of Turkey and founded the Modern Turkish Republic… In that sense he is the Ata… (father of the Turks) i.e Ataturk… yet as we see from the further genocidal campaigns agains the protected (by the Lauzanne treaty) Greek communities of Istanbul, Imvros and Tenedos in 1955, 1964, 1974, the ethnic cleansing of Greek populations (1/3 of the entire population of the island of Cyprus) from North Cyprus, the massive killing of Kurdish populations since the early 80s (now with the number of victims rising to 40,000), the cold blooded murder of Armenian Journalist Hrant Dink and the recent (March 2010) official threat for new deportations of Armenians by the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan… the genocidal legacy of Ataturk permeates the entire realm of the Modern Turkish Republic and the Turkish nation. Therefore the banishment of google sites much similar to the regimes in China and North Korea comes as no surprise… The Turks originated in Western China and Mongolia anyways.

    Reply
  4. powerscape says:
    12 years ago

    Lawmakers are very silly persons.They supposed to block some web sites.But everybody can enter google,youtube etc.Praticaly, nothing banned in Turkiye.Because there’re tons of way to entering blocking sites and whole country know how to use it. e.g. just only change pc dns server ip to opendns ip numbers and everything is allright or you can use proxy programs like netshade or others, and some proxy sites, several dns ip numbers, ghost ways… But if you’re a newbie to pc and you do not know to use any of these ways, your pc will take automatic assigned dns ip, and you’ll be effected ban. However Prime Minister Erdogan watches blocked youtube and suggest peoples to use it and added that people also know how to open blocked sites. Still Turkish users have got high user ratings in these sites.This events occurs because of youtube ip pool complexity with google. And google still do not answer to Turkish government for their tax payments for a long time. Google have got office in Turkey, and they’re not registered as tax subject. Google pay taxes to every country except Turkiye. So, TAX is the center of it. Right now, I enjoy using all google services with high speed, watching youtube, etc in Turkiye.

    Reply
  5. sako says:
    12 years ago

    I’m replying to the information provided about Turkey banning youtube. In March 2007 the first ban was about one picture of Kemal crying by a Greek person. The second and third ban was because of a person whos screen names was Bourjhamoud Bourjhamoudkebab kebab2008 and so on who is Armenian. Whoever wrote this article is totally wrong on this information and it looks like they missed the whole part that it was a Lebanese Armenian who got the Turkish government to ban youtube until today. Perhaps these reporters should make a more in depth investigation and get the facts especially when an Armenian newspaper is writing information regarding Turkey. Interestingly enough,a Turkish reporter from Hurriyet newspaper, in the English version, wrote an article about the person “Bourjhamoud” regarding the ban as well. http://istanbulian.blogspot.com/2008/01/man-bit-dog-youtube-is-online-in-turkey.html
    another link http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/10508304.asp?scr=1
    these are examples of the videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzxI14MxHo0

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Congressional Armenian Caucus Leaders Condemn Azerbaijan’s Latest Attempt to Ethnically Cleanse Artsakh’s Armenians

Congressional Armenian Caucus Leaders Condemn Azerbaijan’s Latest Attempt to Ethnically Cleanse Artsakh’s Armenians

6 mins ago
Through Use of Force, Azerbaijan is Forcing Concessions from Artsakh, Says Human Rights Defender

Through Use of Force, Azerbaijan is Forcing Concessions from Artsakh, Says Human Rights Defender

11 hours ago

Connect with us

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

Accessibility

Accessibility modes

Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.

Online Dictionary

    Readable Experience

    Content Scaling
    Default
    Text Magnifier
    Readable Font
    Dyslexia Friendly
    Highlight Titles
    Highlight Links
    Font Sizing
    Default
    Line Height
    Default
    Letter Spacing
    Default
    Left Aligned
    Center Aligned
    Right Aligned

    Visually Pleasing Experience

    Dark Contrast
    Light Contrast
    Monochrome
    High Contrast
    High Saturation
    Low Saturation
    Adjust Text Colors
    Adjust Title Colors
    Adjust Background Colors

    Easy Orientation

    Mute Sounds
    Hide Images
    Virtual Keyboard
    Reading Guide
    Stop Animations
    Reading Mask
    Highlight Hover
    Highlight Focus
    Big Dark Cursor
    Big Light Cursor
    Navigation Keys

    Asbarez.com Accessibility Statement

    Accessibility Statement

    • www.asbarez.com
    • August 3, 2022

    Compliance status

    We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

    To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

    This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

    Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

    If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

    Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

    Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

    1. Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.

      These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.

    2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.

      Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Disability profiles supported in our website

    • Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
    • Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
    • Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
    • ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
    • Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
    • Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

    1. Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
    3. Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

    Browser and assistive technology compatibility

    We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.

    Notes, comments, and feedback

    Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to