Turkey to Ban TV Dating Shows as they Counter their Customs, Traditions & Beliefs

“There are some strange programs that would scrap the institution of family, take away its nobility and sanctity,” Turkey’s deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş lamented, as he announced that the government is set to ban certain dating shows on TV that do not fit in with their ‘traditions and customs’.

He went on to describe that these dating shows counter the country’s customs, traditions, and beliefs, as well as the Turkish family structure and the culture of Anatolian lands.

According to The Guardian UK, Kurtulmuş, in an interview published by Hürriyet daily, explained that despite the popularity of such shows, there have been thousands of complaints and the Turkish government is working to put an end of it. “God willing, in the near future, we will most likely remedy this with an emergency decree,” Kurtulmuş said.

When asked about the high ratings and successes of the said shows, he replied “So what the ratings are very high and thus the advertising revenue is high? Let there not be that kind of advertising revenues”.

Despite being a Muslim-majority nation, the modern Turkey is built on mostly the secular values laid down by its founder, Mustafa Atatürk Kemal in 1923.

This, however, hasn’t stopped critics from claiming that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have been sliding towards conservative Islam.

Photo Credit: Ahmet Bolat/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images