Turkey, one of the model progressive Islamic nations at the moment, has finally emerged the victor in a long-running battle to persuade YouTube to operate under a Turkish web domain. This would mean that the Turkish government will now have a tighter rein on what YouTube can and cannot display, as well as requiring the video sharing website to pay Turkish taxes. Banned for over two years in 2008, Transport and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim said about the situation, “This is an important development. For a long time we have made a call to Internet firms in Turkey: ‘You are operating in this country, you must be resident here’.”
This means that YouTube will now operate under the ‘com.tr’ umbrella, and YouTube also did release a brief statement yesterday, touting that they had launched its Turkish website, where users will be able to experience a “Turkish-language experience with great, locally relevant content”. In a dignified manner, they did not let out a beep concerning any dispute with the Turkish government prior. Time to see more whirling dervish videos in the local context!