Deutsche Welle, 28 March 2014
The Turkish
government has blocked YouTube and is outraged over the release of an official
recording regarding national and international security questions. The fate of
the perpetrators and the government are at stake.
First
Twitter, now YouTube. The Turkish telecoms authority TIB said the move to was
an "administrative measure." But only a few hours before the measure
came into force, a rather provocative recording was posted on the site.
According to the official view, the audio clip is one of the most flagrant
among the many that anonymous opponents of the government have been leaking
online over the last few months. It exposes the Islamic-conservative government
led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan just before the municipal elections
scheduled to take place on March 30.
The
conversation that was leaked this time is between Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu and several heads of the intelligence service and the military.
Participants of the conversation were apparently looking for a reason to go to
war with Syria.
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| The recording could influence the outcome of local elections |
According
to reports from the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet, the Turkish foreign ministry
has confirmed the authenticity of the recording and has explained that the
conversation took place in the foreign ministry. The ministry also emphasized,
however, that the contents of the recording were distorted.
In astatement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this explanation was given:
"Monitoring
such a meeting of a highly confidential nature which was held at a location
such as the office of the foreign minister, where the most sensitive security
issues of the state are discussed; and releasing these conversations to the
public are a despicable attack, an act of espionage and a very serious crime
against the national security of Turkey. This incident reveals the extent the
threats of cyber and electronic attacks that Turkey encounters."
The
statement called the perpetrators "enemies of our state" and said
they would be identified and severely punished as soon as possible.
Erdogan,
too, criticized the publication of the conversation during a campaign rally in
eastern Turkey. "This is immoral, this is sleaze, this is shameful, this
is dishonorable," he said of the leak.
'Desperate
and depressing move'
The online
community reacted vociferously to the YouTube restrictions. "What's
missing in order to throw the country back into the Middle Ages? A block on
Facebook? You might as well just turn off the electricity," a Facebook
user ranted immediately after the measures blocking access to YouTube came into
force. "Now Twitter and YouTube are blocked in Turkey. This is a total
repression of freedom of speech," wrote another user.
EU
Commissioner Neele Kroes, who is in charge of Europe's digital agenda, called
the YouTube step "another desperate and depressing move in Turkey."
The Turkish
radio and television supervisory board RTÜK banned several Turkish media
outlets from spreading the video or communicating its contents. According to
the newspaper Hürriyet, the Turkish federal prosecutor's office has already
initiated investigations against those responsible for the video.
Measures
taken too far
According
to legal expert Bertan Tokuzlu, the recording gives the impression that the
government wanted to make trouble internationally, in order to distract the
public from internal problems. "If the government wanted to create a
reason for war, that is absolutely not in keeping with international legal
standards," says Tokuzlu.
 |
| The government blocked YouTube just days after banning Twitter |
But
according to the legal expert, another aspect of the problem is at stake here.
"This is a case of espionage. The alleged conversation took place in a
secure location and it is on a very sensitive topic - the question of whether
there should or should not be a war with Syria," he says. Tokuzlu added
that the content of the conversation was clearly supposed to be released to the
public in order to influence the results of this Sunday's (30.03.2014) local
elections.
But
blocking the whole YouTube site was never an appropriate solution, Tokuzlu
maintains. "There is no reason to block entire sites. You could block
individual accounts or videos; that would be legitimate in this sort of a
case," he said. Tokuzlu also explained that blocking YouTube could not be
compared with the move to block Twitter: "The Security Council in Turkey
held an emergency meeting. Right after, YouTube was blocked. That shows how
important this case is."
A serious
crime
Tokuzlu
also said that in Turkish criminal law, there is a chapter about state secrets
and espionage. "Article 330 of the penal code could apply in the YouTube
case. It concerns information that should be kept secret in the interest of the
state as well as in the interest of national and international security. If
that article is breached by means of political and military espionage, the
perpetrator can expect lifelong detention. It's a very serious
crime," the expert said.
The
recording also mentions Turkish arms deliveries to Syrian opposition groups.
"If that is the case and we have a war crime to deal with, then the public
has a right to know this information, according to the European Court of Human
Rights," Tokuzlu stressed, adding that the Turkish government's reaction
to the publication of the conversation was very thin-skinned. "If the
recording provides evidence of a war crime, then that might mean the government
will be brought before a war crimes tribunal in the near future. That is
a delicate subject."
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