Russia's Putin takes stance similar to Turkish PM’s on adoption by gay couples

MOSCOW

Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds a televised question and answer session with the nation in Moscow, on April 25, 2013. AFP PHOTO/ RIA-NOVOSTI/ POOL / ALEXEI NIKOLSKY

Russian President Vladimir Putin said April 26 that Russia could change its agreements for the adoption of Russian children with France and other Western states that are legalizing gay marriage, Agence France-Presse has reported.

Turkey also has recently launched a campaign to retrieve Turkish children in European countries who have been taken from their parents and given to gay and lesbian couples.

"I consider it fully correct to make changes to the appropriate documents. It is a current issue and we need to think about it," Putin said at a meeting with lawmakers, saying other states had to respect Russia's "cultural traditions and ethical norms."

On the Turkish side, the campaign revolves around nine-year-old Yunus, who was taken from his parents at the age of six months after his parents allegedly dropped him on the ground. The child was then placed in the care of a lesbian couple in the Netherlands.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also said homosexuality, a “sexual preference,” is contrary to the culture of Islam, referring to the case of Yunus.