Turkish hackers are threatening to unleash a wave of cyberattacks against French Web sites after lawmakers in Paris voted to approve a law that would ban the denial of the Armenian genocide.
Hackers have already assailed dozens of French Web sites, including that of Valerie Boyer, the French politician who introduced the law that could punish genocide deniers with prison time.
Some attacks have been blamed on a hacking group known as AyYildiz, which says it fights for Turkish values.
“AyYildiz has nothing against the French, but if this carries on, there will be far more serious attacks from many groups,” said Ishak Telli, a spokesman for the group.
The French lower house approved the law on Dec. 22 and the Senate is expected to vote on it by the end of this month.
If it is enacted, anyone denying that the 1915-1917 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turk forces amounted to genocide could face prison time.
Telli said hackers could initiate attacks causing millions of euros of damage.
“You can close commercial and banking sites,” Telli said. “You can take down government Web sites ... The AyYildiz team has that capability.”
Ankara reacted angrily when the French National Assembly passed the bill, quickly freezing political and military ties with the country. Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Paris, but he has returned to monitor the Senate’s handling of the bill.
Starting in 1915, during World War I, many thousands of Armenians died in Ottoman Turkey. Armenia says 1.5 million were killed in a genocide where many perished after being forced to march into the desert without adequate supplies.
Turkey says about 500,000 died in fighting after Armenians sided with Russian invaders.
France recognized the killings as a genocide in 2001, but the new bill would punish anyone who denies this with a year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (US$60,000).
Modern Turkey is still very -sensitive about the issue and it has accused France of attacking freedom of expression and free historical inquiry.
Akincilar, another Turkish hacking group, was blamed for attacking Boyer’s site and that of French-Armenian politician Patrick Devedjian.
Such lawmakers would do better to “study Ottoman history,” the group said in a video.
“Our goal is to expose the arrogance shown by France when it legislates in its own parliament about the affairs of other countries,” the group said.
Web hacking is illegal in Turkey and hackers run the risk of a prison sentence, but for those who do it, hijacking a Web site attacking Turkish beliefs and morals is not a crime and no nationalist hacker has been targeted by authorities, said Ozgur Uckan, a new media expert at Istanbul Bilgi University.
“This type of hacking isn’t really punished, but if they attack Turkish government sites, the police will do everything in their power ... It’s a kind of double standard,” Uckan said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in