
Turkey Twitter users flout Erdogan ban - austenallred
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/21/turkey-twitter-users-flout-ban-erdogan?CMP=twt_gu
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not_paul_graham
_> In a rare act of defiance, the Turkish president, Abdullah Gül, openly
criticised the ban – via his Twitter account. "The shutdown of an entire
social platform is unacceptable," he tweeted. "Besides, as I have said many
times before, it is technically impossible to close down communication
technologies like Twitter entirely. I hope this measure will not last long._

Can any Turkish HNers comment on the credibility (clean record, etc) of the
President? Is this act of defiance a play for becoming the popular leader in
the next few weeks/months if the country breaks out into massive protests?
Because it would seem rather risky on the president's part given that PM
Erdogan has been entrenching himself as the leader since 2003 and also
controls the majority in Parliament.

Wikipedia says that the office of the President is mostly ceremonial but it
also states that the President is elected by citizens through a public vote
(since 2007). Previously the President was elected by members of the Turkish
Parliament [1].

Edit: The President also has a bunch of other tweets [2], using google
translate, here is what they say:

> Social media platforms can not be closed completely approve of.

> Also, as I mentioned many times before, in the culmination of communication
> technologies such as Twitter today all over the world. /.

> . /. blocking access to the platform used allround already technically
> impossible.

> As violating the secrecy of the private lives of people if there are
> criminal matters, but only by a court decision related pages can be turned
> off.

> Hopefully this application will not last long.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Turkey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Turkey)

[2] [https://twitter.com/cbabdullahgul](https://twitter.com/cbabdullahgul)

~~~
berkay
His record is clean in the sense that (unlike the prime minister) there has
been no allegations or evidence of corruption involving him. He has been
positioning himself as the more modern, tolerant option the conservative AKP
party that has been in power over the decade.

However, it's safe to say that he talked to talk but failed to walk it. When
the government started passing laws that undermine the independence of
judicial system, free media, etc. he decided to tow the party line and failed
to take any action, even symbolic ones, disappointing many that expected more
from him.

He also has not taken any action or made any comments to address the
corruption allegations against the government. It appears, he is aligned with
the current administration in their struggle to hold on to power. Possible
conclusions are a)he does not believe they are corrupt (despite significant
evidence to the contrary) b) he believes struggle against Gulen movement is
more important c) his hands are not sufficiently clean to take any action

His current position is indeed mostly ceremonial but still has impact. More
importantly, there is (at least was) discussion to change the system towards a
more powerful presidency along the lines of France or US. Gul was presenting
himself as the more palatable and clean option (the modern conservative). It
is not clear he can convince the masses on this anymore.

~~~
dTal
So, he's basically Turkish Barack Obama?

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sixQuarks
I happened to be visiting Turkey in 2010 when this idiot was seeking re-
election. I kid you not, I felt like I was in a movie. There were propaganda
posters literally on every single block in Istanbul with his ugly face on it.
Every few minutes, a truck would drive by with people blaring through
megaphones about how great this idiot was.

I bet tons of Turks voted for him simply due to the overwhelming media
propaganda blitz that was his re-election campaign.

------
rsync
Free Speech or Stone Age.

[http://blog.kozubik.com/john_kozubik/2009/06/free-speech-
or-...](http://blog.kozubik.com/john_kozubik/2009/06/free-speech-or-stone-
age.html)

------
6cxs2hd6
s/Streissand/Erdogan/ effect

------
transitionality
The more you tighten your grip, Tayyip, the more tweets will slip through your
filters.

~~~
enraged_camel
I think this is because stubbornness is built into the Turkish national
identity. Especially when it comes to politics, if people start to feel that
they are being wronged, they will be very, very stubborn about finding a way
to express it.

------
m00dy
Turks are stupid .. as much as americans

