Turkish PM comments on new Internet law

Turkey is one of the countries that invest in the Internet most, said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday at his party's parliamentary weekly group meeting in Ankara.

Speaking at the meeting, Erdoğan stated that the new Internet law, which awaits approval by President Abdullah Gül, aims to guarantee the personal rights and to prevent cyberbullying in Turkey.

As evidence of Turkey's investment in the Internet, Erdoğan said the government supplied schools with around 63,000 "educational tablets" so far and it will continue to supply more to promote the Internet use across the country.

Referring to the worsening cyberbullying issue, he said illegal audio-visual records of political figures leaked to the media is a cyberbullying and that the Turkish government would fight against it.

At the previous group meeting on Jan. 23, Erdoğan accused the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) of treason against the country. The Prime Minister echoed a similar sentiment yesterday, claiming that Gülen Movement had illegal records of TUSİAD and said these records were evidence of treason.

The prime minister labelled Fethullah Gülen a crime network leader for the first time since the turmoil between them erupted.

Erdoğan further noted that since the Feb. 7 operation against the Turkish National Intelligence (MİT), the government started to take measures against the Gülen Movement, which infiltrated into the government. The new Internet law is one of those measures, said Erdoğan.


Istanbul / Sabah English