ISTANBUL -- Famous images showing an aide to Turkey’s prime minister kicking a protester in the wake of a national tragedy are slowly vanishing from the internet in Turkey.
The photographs were taken after a fire killed 301 miners in the spring of 2014 and they quickly became symbols of the government’s callous reaction to the worst industrial accident in Turkey’s history.
Yet anyone in Turkey today who tries to find the famous photos of Yusuf Yerkel winding up for a kick aimed a protester who was already on the ground — and restrained by security — will find that many webpages showing the image are blocked.
Soma halkı hakkını arıyor. Başbakanın danışmanı polisle askerle bir olup adam dövüyor. O kişi @YusufYerkel pic.twitter.com/j6EPUdLCfI— M.Berat Saymadi (@beratsaymadi) May 14, 2014
Last month an Ankara court ruled in favor of Yerkel, who requested that hundreds of YouTube videos and web pages showing the notorious kick be blocked in Turkey.
The blocked URLs include not only domestic news stories, but international stories as well, including articles published on Foxnews.com, Huffington Post, the Daily Mail and InfoMine, a mining industry publication.
More than 350 URLs are already blocked, including 122 YouTube videos.
Efe Kerem Sozeri, an activist who tracks internet censorship in Turkey and recently wrote an article on the vanishing photos said that Yerkel's request and the court's approval are examples of what is wrong with Turkey's Interner law, press freedoms and accountability.
“The government may do whatever possible to avoid being held accountable, but I think researchers and journalists are responsible to pressure them on behalf of the public. This is why I published [a list of censored URLS] and wrote the article.”
Tekmeci müşavir Sabah, Yeni Şafak, Akit, Star, Takvim, Türkiye, Akşam'ın manşetlerinde. pic.twitter.com/2KKkyrYiPM— Selin Asker (@selinasker) May 16, 2014
Turkey's internet laws were tightened in 2014 after allegations of government corruption went viral online. Both YouTube and Twitter briefly went dark during this period in Turkey and authorities were given more leeway to block access to webpages without first having to obtain a court order.
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was prime minister at the time of Yerkel’s famous kick, has also become notorious for aggressively prosecuting ordinary citizens who insult him on social media.
Despite widespread international criticism, the government has shown no signs of reversing course on internet freedom or its efforts to censor controversial content. Instead, Erdogan has been defiant in the face of criticism, telling critics that they should keep their opinions to themselves.
Today, Yusuf Yerkel continues to work as an aide to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. He has not issued a public apology or acknowledgment of the kick, which was just one part of the government’s bungled response to the mining tragedy.
As the death toll climbed and questioned swirled about possible negligence, Erdogan told the country that industrial disasters “are usual things” that have happened in places like Britain and even the United States.