(Antenna-TR/IFEX) – On 24 July 2008, the Anniversary of the Elimination of Censorship, Antenna-TR’s website, http://www.antenna-tr.org , and the civil society website http://www.ortakpayda.org were hacked by a group calling itself “Atabeyler”. Antenna-TR denounced the incident as an attack on free expression. The organisation had recently spoken out on its website against the blocking of the […]
(Antenna-TR/IFEX) – On 24 July 2008, the Anniversary of the Elimination of Censorship, Antenna-TR’s website, http://www.antenna-tr.org , and the civil society website http://www.ortakpayda.org were hacked by a group calling itself “Atabeyler”. Antenna-TR denounced the incident as an attack on free expression. The organisation had recently spoken out on its website against the blocking of the “YouTube” site in Turkey.
A quick look at the hackers’ website suggests that they target websites whose ideas they do not like. They have published a list of websites they have hacked with pride and Antenna-TR is second on the list. Atabeyler claims that they did not “damage” the site and that their aim was constructive. They left a notice suggesting that Antenna-TR contact them “for the security of [its] website”.
The hackers explain that their mission involves: “warning and defending the websites of Turkish Republic ending with gov.tr, org.tr, pol.tr, edu.tr, com.tr etc.; putting out of operation all foreign websites, regardless of content (except the ones helping humanity); collecting information on the websites which engage in activity against the great Turkish Republic or attempt to disrupt the Constitutional order, or that broadcast separatist, Islamic fundamentalist, communist, Satanist, or pornographic content; informing the security forces about [such websites] and making them unusable”. The group goes on to say that they are “defending Ataturk’s principles and revolutions . . . exchanging ideas to be able to answer those who are against the Turkish Republic . . . making counter propaganda against terrorism, communism, capitalism, imperialism and never submitting to them”.
Antenna-TR urged the authorities to use their technical capabilities to identify the hackers, put an end to their illegal activities and bring them to court.
For further information on the blocking of “YouTube” in Turkey, see: http://ifex.org/en/content/view/full/93724
