Top Business Group and Deputy Prime Minister Confront over Issues of Internet Freedom in Turkey

The head of Turkey’s leading business group and the country’s deputy prime minister engaged in a war of words Friday over issues of freedom and Internet restrictions.

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç fired the first shot Friday morning, calling the Turkish Industry and Business Association, or TÜSİAD, headed by Ümit Boyner, an “unreliable” organization.

“If Ms. Boyner and those who share her sentiments come to power, they can liberalize porn sites as well as sites that propagate violence and describe killing,” Arınç said while speaking to members of the press in the northwestern province of Bursa.

Defending the government’s plan to filter access to the Internet, Arınç said there were filters in place around the world against sites featuring objectionable conconflicttent such as matricide instructions or sexual intercourse with animals and children. He said Boyner should be happy about Turkey’s upcoming regulations since she is the mother of a child, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The deputy prime minister also urged TÜSİAD to focus more on economic issues rather than slamming the government with political criticism. He claimed the group did this because its members are content with the country’s economic situation and can find little in it to criticize.

Boyner responded to Arınç’s comments with a written statement issued later in the day.

“Mr. Arınç exhibits an unhealthy frame of mind when he associates criticism regarding personal freedoms and control over people’s private lives directly with porn and violence. Mr. Arınç’s attitude is [all the more] terrifying at a moment when everyone is making an effort to transform Turkey into a democracy constituted of free individuals,” the statement said.

Boyner also condemned Arınç for devolving the debate by using her children and herself for political gain. She said that rather than picking personal fights with her, the deputy prime minister should pay more attention to issues such as democratization, unemployment and education. Boyner added, however, that TÜSİAD still believes in some form of regulation of the Internet based on universally accepted standards.

The deputy prime minister’s remarks came after a speech given by Boyner at an award ceremony organized by the Adana Young Business People, or AGİAD, on Wednesday. In her speech, the TÜSİAD chief had criticized the increasing pressure on people’s private lives and Internet censorship in the country.

May 27, 2011
SOURCE: HURRIYET DAILY NEWS