Erdogan’s quixotic battle against social media
The Turkish prime minister’s battles with Twitter and YouTube undermine his government’s international credibility.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will not rest until the Internet is fully under government control in Turkey and social media under his feet. He's now signaling his intent to use the strong support his Justice and Development Party (AKP) received in the March 30 local elections to this end. His methods, however, are bound to be interpreted in the West as steps that further erode democracy and the rule of law in Turkey.
Not bothering to dwell on the irony it entails, his government is also now using alleged insults against Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish republic revered by secularists and opponents of the AKP, to keep the government’s recent YouTube ban in place, despite a court ruling ordering its lifting.
Having rejected the Constitutional Court’s unanimous judgment, which holds that the government’s ban on Twitter must be lifted immediately, Erdogan and his ministers as well as jurist members of the AKP are seeking ways to discredit the opinion. Their stance, however, flies in the face of the position held by President Abdullah Gul, one of the first to defy the Twitter ban, by using a virtual private network (VPN). While Erdogan says he has no respect for the April 2 ruling on Twitter by the highest court in the land, Gul says he is proud of the decision, recalling that he appointed 10 of the 17 Constitutional Court judges.
“They arrive at these rulings on the basis of universal law. This will increase trust in the [Constitutional] Court. This is something I take great pride in,” Gul said to reporters accompanying him on an official visit to Kuwait on April 3. Gul’s remarks also contrast sharply with Erdogan’s comment that the Constitutional Court’s ruling is not “national.” Gul’s remarks are in keeping with the position of Hasim Kilic, the president of the Constitutional Court, who has said that they do not rule according to national dictates, but according to universally accepted legal values, which are also enshrined in agreements signed by the Republic of Turkey.
