Turkey’s media watchdog fines three channels on sexual content grounds

Meltem Özgenç ANKARA

The TV 2 station was fined over a series titled “Oh, We Women” (Ah Biz Kadınlar), for showing dialogue between two women about strawberry-flavored condoms.

Turkey’s media watchdog has fined three television stations on the grounds of having broadcasted movies containing sexual content.

The Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK) fined three channels 12,353 Turkish Liras each for showing a naked woman’s body, broadcasting pornographic scenes, and containing dialogue about condoms. Two of the three fined stations were premium subscription channels.

RTÜK fined Moviemax Premier, a premium subscription channel, over a scene featuring a nude woman and a man in the movie “Crossing Over.” RTÜK's report stated that a scene showed a woman and a man talking with each other in a bed while naked, during which the woman’s nude body and genitalia were “put on display and presented as a sexual commodity.” The station was therefore fined on the grounds that it had violated a clause of the RTÜK charter stating that “broadcasts must not be obscene.”

MGM, another premium subscription channel, was fined on the grounds that it had violated the same clause for showing a man having sexual intercourse with two women, as well as one that showed the two women engaging in a lesbian relationship, in the movie “Illegal in Blue.”

Finally, the TV 2 station was fined over a series titled “Oh, We Women” (Ah Biz Kadınlar), for showing dialogue between two women about strawberry-flavored condoms.

The series, which tells the stories of urban women between the ages of 25 and 35, was fined on the grounds that TV shows containing material damaging the "physical, mental and moral development of children and youths" must not be broadcast without advisory warnings, or at certain times in the day when children can view the programs.