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Turkey has no YouTube

Reader comment on item: Turkey, Still a Western Ally?

Submitted by jennifer solis (United States), Nov 6, 2008 at 14:12

I very much appreciate Daniel Pipes' objectivity towards the politically ominous (my opinion) situation in Turkey - his ability to observe and report, as always, is truly a gift to all of us.

As informative as he is, it took, for me, actually interacting with a young man from Turkey for the gravity of Turkey's situation to hit home.

Strolling around YouTube, I came across an absolute stellar pianist - a few videos exist of this genius - in one, he performs "Mendelssohn Rondo Capriccioso"; another, "Rachmaninov Prelude C# minor"; another, Chopin Etude Op. 10. This young man (looks to be not more than 24 yrs. old) is phenominally talented; genius; I looked up his account and found he was located in Turkey. After leaving several appreciative comments, and noticing these videos were all at least a couple of years old, my curiosity led me to directly leave a comment through his YouTube account - this is his reply -

Hi Jennifer,

Thank you very much for your beautifull comments. Unfortunately, we can not log in to YouTube from Turkey since May 2008. Government doesn't give any permission for communication between youtube and the server of Turkey. We connect with special methodes but now, we can't upload or delete videos. Maybe later, government will change this decision or we will find other methodes :-)

Thanks and Regards,

**********

I realize this is somewhat subjective of me, usually I appreciate and try to employ objectivity, but this breaks my heart - this young man, posessing such a stellar gift, should be able to share that gift on a world stage (not through a few years-old videos on YouTube).

Perhaps I will never know what becomes of him. Considering our new President elect, potential withdrawl of U.S. troops from Iraq, and Turkey's past battles towards the Kurds (and vice-versa), the incrementalistic government of Turkey, who have banned (along with other "narrowly secular" enjoyment) such benign entertainment as YouTube, is anything but an "ideal partner" for the U.S.; now our election is over, question is, will we be an "ideal partner" for Turkey?

Turkey's AKP moving away from "defining secularism in a narrow way"? No. Defining Islam in a narrow way. Increasingly.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Daniel Pipes replies:

Yes, the Turkish government has closed off access to YouTube because of displeasure at its contents.

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Reader comments (57) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
What Muslims Can Do To Help Out The West [58 words]research canadaJan 10, 2010 10:42167134
Turkey has no YouTube [369 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
jennifer solisNov 6, 2008 14:12142273
Coup D'etat [46 words]SavranerMar 8, 2008 11:48122082
1Multifaceted Foreign Policy [132 words]Aslan YukselDec 30, 2007 18:09117155
A Western Ally ? [169 words]DagistanliDec 11, 2007 06:12116014
Land of the Seven Churches - Whose Prophecy will Reign [199 words]M. ToveyDec 11, 2007 19:26116014
A Country Like Turkey Needs Its Own Space - It Should Not Be In Europe [418 words]MarieDec 13, 2007 08:26116014
Tired [112 words]MelDec 15, 2007 16:00116014
Women Are Suppressed In Turkey - I Take It - You Must Be A Man !! [283 words]MarieDec 16, 2007 05:32116014
1Never Ending Orientalist Fictions Part ? (Sorry Lost Its Track) [180 words]MelDec 17, 2007 10:03116014
Orientalism+Essentialism [64 words]Oya BilirDec 23, 2007 18:20116014
history is history it has nothing to do with now [152 words]erolJan 21, 2009 12:17116014
ignorance is bliss [90 words]amyAug 29, 2013 08:32116014
With allies like these... [37 words]Mar GDec 10, 2007 17:12115993
Yes, You are absolutely right in your diagnosis Mr.Pipes! [95 words]KaanDec 9, 2007 17:50115971
West is to blame [71 words]VijayDec 9, 2007 11:18115959
a cry: Enough! [423 words]MelDec 8, 2007 23:40115942
That' s right ! [54 words]Anne-Marie DelcambreDec 8, 2007 06:49115913
Missing point and slogans. [115 words]melDec 8, 2007 22:26115913
U.S. STATE DEPT GETS IT ALL WRONG ON TURKEY AND ITS EU MEMBERSHIP [726 words]GeorgeDec 7, 2007 11:55115888
EU PROCESS ISLAMIZING TURKEY, NOT REFORMING IT ! [106 words]Secular TurkDec 7, 2007 03:19115864
Always amazed by statements like these, oblivous to reason and fact. [599 words]Doc TaterDec 17, 2007 18:45115864
Turkey and Muslim Europe [51 words]Atoo LandarvDec 7, 2007 03:14115863
Oversimplification of issue? [293 words]John FeatherDec 6, 2007 23:12115850
Its Too Late, Turkey is Islamist [172 words]Paul RinderleDec 6, 2007 14:32115829
"History, is a lie, agreed upon".---- Napoleon [37 words]HarraKDec 7, 2007 21:58115829
1"History, is a lie, agreed upon".---- Napoleon [107 words]Paul RinderleDec 9, 2007 10:19115829
Islam is typical of hypocrisy [148 words]Afif UdinDec 10, 2007 22:50115829
Turkey is Ottoman (Islamic) at Heart, Even if Attaturk was Not. [251 words]M. ToveyDec 6, 2007 14:21115828
Gaza all over again [85 words]GriswelDec 6, 2007 09:28115817
Turkey in the Straw [42 words]dennis middlebrooksDec 6, 2007 09:02115815
Sharia and incentives [204 words]HarraKDec 7, 2007 09:56115815
Turkey [199 words]Ron RotemDec 6, 2007 04:15115810
No Turkish Delight [273 words]Rebecca MouldsDec 5, 2007 23:16115803
Misleading.. [78 words]MelDec 6, 2007 21:28115803
think again [211 words]Rebecca MouldsDec 7, 2007 22:19115803
travel to Turkey [9 words]Gerson KaplanDec 5, 2007 18:08115783
Turkey and The European Union [104 words]Janusz KowalikDec 5, 2007 18:06115782
Turkey and the EU [44 words]Sofa SogoodDec 6, 2007 21:28115782
Europe in the cross hairs [75 words]infidelDec 7, 2007 07:56115782
Not a surprise. [94 words]MelDec 8, 2007 22:41115782
What goes around must come around if we want any respect at all in the world [93 words]SullyDec 5, 2007 17:07115778
Once more with clarity, if you please [85 words]David W. LincolnDec 5, 2007 16:19115774
Do you care? [79 words]MelDec 6, 2007 21:35115774
It still matters [35 words]David W. LincolnDec 7, 2007 18:47115774
Islam's Achilles Heel [96 words]Seamus MacNemiDec 9, 2007 00:19115774
Good point [111 words]David W. LincolnDec 10, 2007 10:21115774
VIVA IRAN AND TURKEY TOGETHER NEW ALLIANCE [203 words]mehmet khasabianDec 5, 2007 15:44115773
Our "stick" is bigger. [7 words]Jorge CordovaDec 5, 2007 19:22115773
Again I Have To Laugh [119 words]Seamus MacNemiDec 5, 2007 22:34115773
USA stick is bigger! but inside. [91 words]HarraKDec 7, 2007 09:44115773
What? [42 words]MelDec 8, 2007 23:11115773
" Iran has moved nowhere in 20 years" the proof is here.. [41 words]HarraKDec 9, 2007 21:41115773
Slogans And Diatribes [250 words]Seamus MacNemiDec 10, 2007 05:48115773
Penguins [60 words]MelDec 11, 2007 21:01115773
As an iranian... [132 words]persianJan 2, 2009 17:35115773
Iranians Outside Iran... [129 words]research canadaJan 10, 2010 10:53115773

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