[July 17, 2010] Turkish protesters march against Internet bans Tweet ISTANBUL, Jul 17, 2010 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- About 2,000 protestors marched in Istanbul city center on Saturday against strict website censorship in the country. Protesters marched down Istanbul's central Istiklal Avenue chanting slogans for YouTube and against the Transportation Minister, whose Ministry is responsible for site bans. Shouting slogans saying the "Binali (the transportation minister), you are wrong. Don't touch the Internet, pull away your hand." The protest was organized by the Common Platform Against Internet Censorship, a platform of over 50 non-governmental organizations. Ozgur Uckan of Bilgi University and one of the organizers of Saturday's rally told Xinhua there was always dissatisfaction with Internet censorship but people just hadn't poured out into the streets before. Uckan finds that the popular dissatisfaction is wearing down the politicians too, who have apparently started lashing back in increasingly angry tones. The protesters are demanding that Law No. 5651, which has resulted in access to more than 5,000 Internet sites being banned in Turkey, be repealed. There are about 30 million Internet users in the country with a total population of 70 million. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]