Turkish Court Imposes Media Clampdown on Reyhanli Bombing
The Turkish government upped its efforts to control the debate on the Syrian crisis by imposing overt censorship with a court decision on reporting about the Reyhanli bombings.
We are all now debating the national significance of a decision by a court in a small town that under normal circumstances only deals with petty crimes.
On Saturday, in the town of Reyhanli in Hatay province, two bomb-laden vehicles blew up, killing dozens of people, wounding hundreds and damaging many buildings and vehicles. Turkey was shaken to its core by scenes more often seen in other parts of the Middle East.
A court in the small town decided on a “reporting ban,” applicable nationwide, about this act of terror.
The Reyhanli Criminal Court of Peace ruling says, “It has been decided to ban all forms of audio, visual and print reporting, and their broadcast, of the investigation into the May 11, 2013, explosion in the town of Reyhanli that killed and wounded many people ... and anything related to the context of the incident ... [and] anything to do with anything about those killed and wounded in the incident.”
