Turkey singer faces criminal probe for 'obscene' song

A Turkish singer-songwriter has been slapped with a criminal complaint by the interior ministry over a song deemed "obscene" in the latest legal move targeting artists over alleged public indecency. 

Authorities have in recent weeks stepped up sanctions on musicians and a TV production company as Turkey marks "Year of the Family". 

The latest move, announced by the ministry on X late Thursday, targeted 40-year-old Mabel Matiz, a popular gay singer-songwriter, over his latest track called "Perperisan" (Turkish for 'exhausted') in which he alludes to his attraction from afar to a young man. 

In its post, the ministry cited violations of Article 226 of Turkish penal code, which criminalises the dissemination, distribution or publication of "obscene" content -- an offence which carries a jail term of between six months and two years. 

The ministry of family and social services asked that the song be blocked on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music, the Engeliweb internet watchdog said Thursday, although it still appeared to be accessible on Friday. 

This week, popular Turkish soap opera Kizilcik Serbeti found itself in the firing line after the first episode of its new season showed the main character having an affair with her brother-in-law.

Turkey's broadcasting watchdog RTUK opened an investigation on Sunday on grounds it had prompted public complaints. 

"Any broadcast targeting the family... directly affects the souls of our children, the future of our youth, and the peace of our society," its director Ebubekir Sahin wrote on X. 

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A day later, series screenwriter Merve Gontem was detained, allegedly over an unrelated matter, Turkish media reported. 

She was released two days later but the storyline has since been altered, with the second episode set to air on Friday evening. 

Two weeks ago, prosecutors opened a probe into the popular girl band "Manifest" on charges of "obscenity" over their dance routines at an Istanbul gig. 

It said their actions had "violated public decency, modesty, and moral norms" with the potential to "negatively influence children and young people," Turkish media reported. 

In a post on X, singer-songwriters Matiz -- whose YouTube channel has nearly 1,000,000 subscribers -- said his lyrics were being "deliberately twisted", insisting it was a song that drew on the tradition of Turkish folk literature that "tells a love story through metaphors". 

It is not uncommon to find frequent sexual references in traditional Turkish folk songs. 

"I want to believe that public order and our collective well-being are not so fragile as to be disrupted by a mere song," he wrote.

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