The following article “Turkey’s Internet Repression”, by David Keyes, appeared in yesterday’s The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Keyes is the director of CyberDissidents.org.

From my hotel balcony on Siraselviler Street in the heart of Istanbul, I can see precisely why this bustling, modern metropolis deserves to join the European Union.

Turkey is a proud and moderate Muslim democracy which has a strong economy and provides a striking alternative to the despair and dysfunction of the rest of the Middle East. I am so moved by this nexus of East and West, secularism and tradition, religion and tolerance that I have decided to make a YouTube video in support of Turkey’s accession to the EU.

Or at least that’s what I would have done if YouTube were not blocked by the government.

Since 2008, Turks have been forbidden from accessing one of the most popular sites on the Internet. The following message appears on my screen after attempting to visit YouTube: “The decision no 2008/402 dated 05.05.2008, which is given about this web site (youtube.com) within the context of protection measure, of Ankara 1. Sulh Ceza Mahkemesi has been implemented by ‘Telecomunikasyon Iletisim Baskanligi.’” The head of Turk Telecom, the country’s largest Internet provider, has said that he is in no position to judge the nature of the videos posted, but is simply following court orders to enforce the ban.

Why is YouTube blocked in Turkey? Because someone had the audacity to insult the republic’s founding father. In early 2007, a slew of videos reportedly of Greek origin were posted accusing Mustafa Kemal Ataturk of homosexuality. Some videos called Turkey “Little Asia” and showed images of the Turkish flag overlaid with profanities. Then, in May 2007, Ankara passed a bill allowing the government to prohibit access to any site which insults Ataturk. Article 301 of the penal code also mandates up to two years imprisonment for the crime of insulting “the Turkish nation.” A sensitive bunch, these Turks.

The ban on YouTube should be called by its real name: profound insecurity and repression of man’s most basic rights. Today it is impossible to shut down every Web site, or to find—let alone punish—every dissident. Instead, particular sites and people are used as examples to intimidate the rest. “If you criticize Ataturk, the government will put you six feet under” a local restaurant owner named Mehmet tells me. “They are very strong and there is a feeling of fear amongst the people.”

Famed Princeton professor Bernard Lewis has repeatedly warned me that Turkey and Iran may trade places in the near future. What he means is that Turkey is becoming increasingly radical, and that Iran could be on the verge of a true democratic revolution. I’ve run this theory by a few Turks and many disagree. But there is no doubt that Turkey is playing a double game. On the one hand it portrays itself as a modern, developed, electoral democracy. On the other hand, it bans basic Web sites and threatens jail time for anyone who “insults” its founding father. Turks should be reminded of the words of the Roman historian Suetonius: “In a state enjoying real liberty, thought and word to express it must be free.”

Who cares about some silly Web site while Turkey’s economy grows and brings a measure of stability to an otherwise chaotic region, one may argue. The answer is that this is how it always begins: a Web site here, a journalist there. Tyranny does not take over in a day. It is a slow process during which the people are conditioned, co-opted and frightened into silence and submission. An American journalist friend of mine who covers the Middle East sighed and told me that he is no longer surprised at anything here, including a ban on YouTube. But it is exceedingly important that we are shocked anew every time authoritarianism rears its ugly head.

The EU has designated Istanbul a “European Capital of Culture” this year, which gives Turkey a chance to showcase its cultural development to the world. Large signs in the Hagia Sofia and on the side of Turkish Air planes proudly display this message. But there is nothing European, let alone cultural, about prohibiting citizens from viewing YouTube. Turkey’s status as a “Capital of Culture” should be suspended until this ban is repealed.

A nation’s strength lies not in its ability to prohibit insults, but rather in it the space it allows for dissent and critique.

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