High Elections Board bans presidential television ad of Turkish PM Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

The High Elections Board (YSK) has banned the broadcast of a television ad by presidential hopeful Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s that was released on Aug. 4.

The YSK justified the ban on the grounds that “the footage of a woman who prays on a rug and the sound of the call to prayer in the ad were abusing religious values.”

Lawyer Kürşat Ergün, representing the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), filed an objection to the YSK over the ad, saying it was against the political parties’ law.

The YSK decided to ban the ad through a majority of votes and it will notify the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) to halt the broadcasting of the ad.

Before the local election in March, the YSK also banned a television ad by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) because it contained a Turkish flag, which is against the Election Law.