by Stephen Lendman.
Erdogan rules despotically, a megalomaniacal tyrant, tolerating no dissent, targeting opponents and critics for elimination.
He’s waging war on his own people, supporting ISIS and other terrorists in Syria and Iraq.
The world community turns a blind eye to his high crimes, supporting them by complicity and silence.
His latest affront targeted Russia’s Sputnik News (SN) web site, blocking it, authorities saying they acted “(a)fter technical analysis and legal consideration” – failing to explain Erdogan’s war on fundamental international law affirmed rights.
Blocking came without advance notice, a rubber-stamp Turkish court to rule on what happened, justifying the unjustifiable.
According to Turkey’s telecommunications department, “the decision (was made) to block the site, and the case has been sent to court” for final disposition.
In January 2015, prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu and other regime officials usurped the right to block any Internet site extrajudicially, or delete content based on the phony pretext of “national security, protection of social order, or for the prevention of crime.”
SN’s editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan blasted Turkey’s action, calling it “another act of strict censorship in a country where the question of freedom of speech no longer exists. It is just not there.”
“This solution looks especially absurd, bearing in mind that several days ago” the Turkish Journalists’ Association honored Yavuz Oghan, host of SN’s Listen to This radio program on political, economic and public issues for journalistic achievements.
Anyone exposing Turkish high crimes or challenging Erdogan’s despotic rule risks arrest, prosecution, imprisonment or extrajudicial execution.
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