Facebook censorship of Turkish political party

Social media giant Facebook has waded into one of Europe longest-running conflicts after it banned pages belonging to Turkey's largest pro-Kurdish political party.

The main page of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) came down on Tuesday, October 29, following several warnings about posting content related to a Kurdish militia fighting in northern Syria and an interview with one of its deputies in which she spoke out for political autonomy of Kurdistan.

Facebook policy on censorship and the recognition of the Kurdish identity proved to be worse than that of Turkey, the party said in a statement.

Long running conflict

Turkey has been in conflict with the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which began a war of insurrection in the 1980s seeking independence for swathes of Turkey's southeast, home to the majority of Turkey's estimated 14 million ethnic Kurds. That demand has since been downgraded to political autonomy for minorities. Still, the PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union, United States and Turkey.

The PKK declared a ceasefire in May as the Turkish government promised democratic reforms to recognize minority rights. Negotiations between the Turkish state and the PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah calan, are ongoing.

Facebook denies that the page came down over the use of Kurdistan -- a term that denotes a Kurdish homeland that encompasses territory in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.

Its statement from Facebook's European office to Deutsche Welle reads in full:

The BDP page was not removed for mentioning the word 'Kurdistan'. It is true that several BDP pages have been taken down from Facebook. This is because these pages have repeatedly breached Facebook's rules. These rules allow users of Facebook to post political content, including controversial views, but prohibit the posting of content that shows support for internationally-recognised illegal terrorist organisations [including the PKK].

BDP spokesman Cem Bico says the main page came down following the group posting of an interview with BDP's MP Sebahat Tuncel calling for political autonomy for Kurdistan. There is no mention of armed groups.

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Facebook censorship of Turkish political party