For the second time in three days, I was blocked from posting or commenting on Facebook due to a concerted campaign by a right-wing Turkish nationalist Facebook page.
It ran an anti-democratic campaign of vexatious reports against photos I posted on my Facebook page for supposedly “promoting graphic violence”.
All I did to merit this campaign of harassment was to post photographs of a Kurdish community meeting in Sydney on February 15. The meeting demanded the release of Kurdish political prisoner Abdullah Ocalan who has been jailed by Turkish authorities since his abduction and arrest with CIA assistance in 1999.
If simply posting photos of a public meeting calling for the release of a prominent Kurdish political prisoner can be deemed “violent” or pro-terrorist, what does this mean for freedom of speech?
Supporters of the Kurdish liberation movement in Australia are preparing to launch a campaign to take the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) off the Australian government's “terrorist listing”. This makes this latest censorship ominous.
Right-wing Turkish nationalists have previously conducted campaigns of terror against Kurdish activists in Australia and other countries. These campaigns have involved bombings of Kurdish community halls, assassinations and threats of violence.
Kurdish activists in Sydney have received several violent threats since they began campaigning for solidarity with Kobane, the liberated zone in northern Syria that was until recently facing a brutal siege by the “Islamic State” terrorist group.
Facebook's Communications Team has been contacted for comment.
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