XXX problem solved: Turkish MPs can now surf any website

Zeynep GÜRCANLI ANKARA / Hürriyet

Members of the Turkish Parliament will soon have unrestricted access to the Internet.

Members of the Turkish Parliament will soon have unrestricted access to the Internet, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Aykan Erdemir told daily Hürriyet on June 9.

Parliament’s Internet filter system had recently created controversies. In the most recent case, Erdemir had discovered that the system denied access to the website of a Protestant church in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır due to “pornographic content.”

After presenting a written question to parliamentary speaker Cemil Çiçek, Erdemir met with him on June 9. In the meeting, in which Parliament’s IT experts also participated, Çiçek leaned toward unblocking all restrictions for the members of the Parliament, Erdemir said.

“The struggle that I have been in for the past 10 days has been concluded. Members of Parliament will continue using Parliament’s firewall, but they will be able to access any website by using their names and passwords,” the CHP deputy added.

Stressing that a member of Parliament can propose a bill about almost anything, Erdemir said: “For instance, if you propose a bill on dating websites, you need to be able to enter those sites and see how they work. Or, if you prepare a bill to combat gambling, you need to see how they work. There was a practice that restricted legislative activity, but now it’s being abolished.”