Top 10 odd news from Turkey in 2014

1) Al-Qaeda mastermind featured in Turkish cosmetic ad

A Turkish cosmetics company uses the photo of a notorious al-Qaeda militant in an online ad for its hair removal product. “The guy is quite hairy, so we thought his body was a good fit for our ad,” a company official told the Hürriyet Daily News on Nov. 4.


2) Cat ‘sabotages’ Turkish elections

A cat that entered a power distribution unit caused controversial power blackouts during the vote-counting process after the March 30 local elections, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said April 1, triggering an avalanche of criticism and derision on social media.


3) Istanbul’s eyebrow-raising bid


Istanbul makes an audacious bid to be named European Green Capital 2017 despite the increasing number of environmentalist protests across the country.


4) Stepping on 2,000-year-old mosaics

The mayor of a southeastern Turkish province draws the ire of social media users after pictures emerged showing her and her aides stepping on 2,000-year-old mosaics excavated from the ancient Roman city of Zeugma during a press presentation event. 


5) Lip-o-suction kiss on Turkish TV fined

Turkey’s media watchdog delves into the salacious details of a kiss scene in a TV drama, which it described as “lip-o-suction” in an expert report.


6) Donkey tied to rails

A donkey tied to a railway track in Central Anatolia narrowly escaped a tragic death when the operator of a running freight train noticed it at the last minute and managed to stop the train with only three meters to spare before hitting the animal. No suspects were found during the investigation.


7) No alcohol serving classes to tourism students


A conservative education sector trade union has applied to Turkey’s Education Ministry to make liquor service classes, which are taught in vocational high schools specializing in hotel management and tourism, an elective course.


8) Science Minister says Muslims discovered Earth is round


Muslim scientists working around 1,200 years ago were the first to determine that the Earth is a sphere, Turkey’s science, industry and technology minister Fikri Işık claims.


9) Dance with strangers on TV fined


Turkey’s media watchdog once again raises eyebrows by levying a hefty fine on a TV show for “immorality” after it showed husbands dancing with other women while their wives looked on jealously.


10) ‘Women should not laugh out in public’



Women should not laugh out loud in public, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç says while complaining about “moral corruption” in Turkey. Thousands of women posted their laughing photos as a social media protest in July.