photograph courtesy of 1 4 d e g r e e s

The Istanbul First Criminal Peace Court banned access to YouTube throughout Turkey earlier this week after a video deemed insulting to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk—the founder of the Turkish Republic—turned up on the site.

Since it’s illegal to insult Turkish culture in Turkey (just ask Nobel prize-winner Orhan Pamuk) these Ataturk-critical videos have caused considerable consternation among nationalists. Even though the latest clip featuring Ataturk was removed from YouTube, it produced one stream too many.

The incident was lamented by both progressive-minded Turks and intrepid European travel guide editors eager to cover Istanbul.

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