Suspected Sony Hackers Arrested in Turkey

Commander Fury · June 13, 2011

Turkish police have arrested 32 Anonymous hackers after attacks on government websites, the state-run news agency Anadolu reports.

The attacks, says Anonymous, brought down the country’s telecommunications directorate and social security department. Also hit were the Turkish parliament website and the prime minister’s office.

There’s little information about the individuals concerned, other than that they were living in 12 different cities.

Anonymous says its attacks were a response to the news that the Turkish government planned to introduce an internet filter in the country.

“The government now wants to impose a new filtering system on the 22nd of August that will make it possible to keep records of all the people’s internet activity. Though it remains opaque why and how the system will be put in place, it is clear that the government is taking censorship to the next level,” it says in a statement.

“These acts are inexcusable. Accessing and participating in the free flow of information is a basic human right. Anonymous will not stand by while the Turkish government violates this right. We will bring our support to circumvent censorship and retaliate against organizations imposing censorship.”

On Friday, three alleged members of Anonymous were also arrested in Spain on suspicion of a number of attacks, including the high-profile and long-running attack on Sony. Anonymous responded to that by taking down the national police website.