Turkish court bars YouTube access after videos ‘insulting’ Ataturk News
Turkish court bars YouTube access after videos ‘insulting’ Ataturk

[JURIST] A Turkish court Wednesday ordered telecom providers in the country to block access to YouTube [corporate website] because of videos insulting the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk [Turkish News profile]. The controversial videos have caused an uproar among Turks and led to prosecutors recommending the website be banned. During the past week, the country's media has been reporting a "virtual war" on YouTube between Turkey and Greece [JURIST news archives], in which citizens of both countries have been creating videos to mock the other. Paul Doany, the head of Turkey's largest telecom company Turk Telekom [corporate website], said his company would remove the block on YouTube if the court withdrew its order. AP has more.

In Turkey, insulting Ataturk is an imprisonable offense. Similarly, "insulting the Turkish identity" is also a serious crime under the controversial Article 301 [Amnesty backgrounder; JURIST news archive] of Turkey's penal code [text, in Turkish]. Critics say Turkey has used Article 301 to silence government critics, which has presented a stumbling block [JURIST report] to the nation's proposed ascension to the European Union.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.