I was kind of impressed with Istanbul, It’s so crowded and chaotic, like a huge market. I found it interesting that everywhere I went to buy something the people insisted on negotiating. So it was very strange when I walk into a hi-tech photo equipment shop the salesman started to negotiate with me for a (actualy very expensive) tripod that I eventually never bought.

But what shocked me in the worse kind of way was the fact that internet is censored there. I tried to acces a youtube link and this came onscreen .

Ankara 1. Sulh Ceza Mahkemesi’nin, 05.05.2008 tarih ve 2008/402 nolu KORUMA TEDB?R? kapsam?nda bu internet sitesi (youtube.com) hakk?nda verdi?i karar Telekomünikasyon ?leti?im Ba?kanl???’nca uygulanmaktad?r. (The decision no 2008/402 dated 05.05.2008, which is given about this web site (youtube.com) within the context of protection measure, of Ankara 1. Sulh Ceza Mahkemesi has been implemented by “Telekomünikasyon ?leti?im Ba?kanl???”.)

So were many other sites, especially porn ones.

Sad to see people still living in the dark ages regarding freedom of speech and information at least.

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