Adult Material in Turkey

Turkey's ruling AKP plans to register all purchases of pornographic material with a new draft law.

According to the draft law, those purchasing pornographic publications would be obliged to provide the retailer with their citizenship number and signature, the report added.

Those names would be later handed to the Youth Sports General Management, according to the regulation, Milliyet said.

AKP Deputy Edibe Sozen, who prepared the draft law in one year based on laws in Germany, has sent her work to State Minister Murat Basesgioglu, it added.

The draft law also foresees the construction of places of worships for students from all religions at schools,

The new draft law is expected to raise eyebrows in Turkey as the country awaits the ruling party to take steps to soothe concerns over secularism after the court ruled that it undertakes activities that harm secularism but stayed short of closing the party.

A deputy chairman from Turkey's ruling AKP withdrew a draft law that she prepared after her work drew fierce criticism from the opposition in the country.

According to the draft law, prepared by AKP Deputy Chairman Edibe Sozen, those purchasing pornographic publications were obliged to provide the retailer with their citizenship number and signature, in order to be later handed to the Youth and Sport General Administration.

The draft law also foresaw the construction of places of worships for students from all religions at schools.

I decided not to bring the draft law to the agenda of parliament, in order to put an end to the misunderstandings regarding my proposal, Sozen said.

Sozen's work drew fierce criticism from the opposition in Turkey, as AKP's attempts were claimed to aim to divide young people and prepare the bases of a theocratic state.

Update: Distanced

18th August 2008

Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has proffered an olive branch to secular critics by publicly disowning his party's proposals to curb pornography and encourage school prayer.

In an unusually harsh rebuke in which he described Sozen's proposals as ill- timed and fatal. He urged party discipline at a time when the AKP is under fierce scrutiny for perceived anti-secular tendencies: It [the bill] is not the party's work, but it was perceived as if it belonged to the party. Such works should be discussed within the party first. It is an ill-timed and fatal statement. The content is bad. She [Sozen] put the party in a difficult situation. We are going through sensitive times that need caution and ultimate care. This is valid for each one of us. We all need to refrain from any actions or statements that could create new tensions.