The Turkish Prime Ministry's "Board for the Protection of Children from Harmful Publications" has struck again. The body, which has the power to go after publications that it deems dangerous to children, has recently imposed a $90,000 fine on Harakiri, a small adult-oriented graphic magazine, for having "a harmful influence on the moral of minors." From an article in the Bianet website:
In the notification sent by the protection board, the caricature "Relations" by Mehmet Ersoy is alleged of "encouraging extramarital relations". The decision continues, "Next to the writing entitled "selfish" on page 15 the female genitals can be seen. On page 44, pictures show a naked couple in different positions of sexual intercourse. The cartoonish pictures enhance sexual incitement. The drawings supported by speech bubbles and drawings ordered like a photo romance plus the narration have a stronger influence on our children. (...) Societies established social norms in order to protect their assets and to provide social order. Press and publication outlets must comply with these norms".
More details here. The board was also behind the recent fining of an Istanbul publisher that issued a Turkish translation of William S. Burrough's 1961 novel "The Soft Machine." More on that in this previous post.
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