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March 29 2014
Zadie Smith, Salman Rushdie & Others Implore Turkey To Allow 'Freedom Of Words'
By Andrea Garcia-Vargas
This week, Turkey banned YouTube after an apparent intelligence leak
days before the country's March 30 elections. Turkey also banned
Twitter earlier this month, although Turkish Twitter users easily got
around that and a Turkish court overturned the ban, Now, popular
authors are speaking out against these social-media bans and signing a
letter by PEN International and English PEN, imploring Turkey to
retract the bans in the name of free speech.
PEN International and English PEN are both highly renowned
organizations that promote the protection of freedom of speech and
free expression for writers around the world. The list of authors who
have signed the letter by the two organization includes Zadie Smith,
Salman Rushdie, Orhan Pamuk, and Margaret Atwood.
An excerpt of the letter:
We, the signatories named below, are writers from around the world who
love, live and breathe words. We are united in our belief that freedom
of expression is a universal and fundamental human right. We hereby
express our grave concern with regard to 'the freedom of words' in
Turkey today.
The letter goes on to discuss how Turkey ranks 154th out of the
world's 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, and points to
the specific laws in Turkey that serve to squash journalists and
writers, before moving on to condemn the social media ban.
At the end, the letter demands that Turkey "recognize their
obligations under international treaties and to lift the block on
Twitter and YouTube with immediate effect."
And then this tremendous closing line:
We urge them to remember that this beautiful country will be stronger
and happier when, and if, it appreciates pluralism, diversity and the
freedom of speech.
You can read the letter here on the website.
Orhan Pamuk, a Nobel Prize laureate from Turkey who has been
persecuted in the country for controversial statements about the
Armenian genocide, has also spoken out, telling The Guardian that the
situation "is going from bad to worse and even towards terrible."
http://www.bustle.com/articles/19458-zadie-smith-salman-rushdie-others-implore-turkey-to-allow-freedom-of-words
March 29 2014
Zadie Smith, Salman Rushdie & Others Implore Turkey To Allow 'Freedom Of Words'
By Andrea Garcia-Vargas
This week, Turkey banned YouTube after an apparent intelligence leak
days before the country's March 30 elections. Turkey also banned
Twitter earlier this month, although Turkish Twitter users easily got
around that and a Turkish court overturned the ban, Now, popular
authors are speaking out against these social-media bans and signing a
letter by PEN International and English PEN, imploring Turkey to
retract the bans in the name of free speech.
PEN International and English PEN are both highly renowned
organizations that promote the protection of freedom of speech and
free expression for writers around the world. The list of authors who
have signed the letter by the two organization includes Zadie Smith,
Salman Rushdie, Orhan Pamuk, and Margaret Atwood.
An excerpt of the letter:
We, the signatories named below, are writers from around the world who
love, live and breathe words. We are united in our belief that freedom
of expression is a universal and fundamental human right. We hereby
express our grave concern with regard to 'the freedom of words' in
Turkey today.
The letter goes on to discuss how Turkey ranks 154th out of the
world's 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, and points to
the specific laws in Turkey that serve to squash journalists and
writers, before moving on to condemn the social media ban.
At the end, the letter demands that Turkey "recognize their
obligations under international treaties and to lift the block on
Twitter and YouTube with immediate effect."
And then this tremendous closing line:
We urge them to remember that this beautiful country will be stronger
and happier when, and if, it appreciates pluralism, diversity and the
freedom of speech.
You can read the letter here on the website.
Orhan Pamuk, a Nobel Prize laureate from Turkey who has been
persecuted in the country for controversial statements about the
Armenian genocide, has also spoken out, telling The Guardian that the
situation "is going from bad to worse and even towards terrible."
http://www.bustle.com/articles/19458-zadie-smith-salman-rushdie-others-implore-turkey-to-allow-freedom-of-words