Mahir Ünal, deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said in an interview that the initial version of a Turkish show on Netflix included a homosexual character who does not appear in the final product, implying government censorship, the Susma24 anti-censorship platform reported on Tuesday.
“Netflix ordered a series from a domestic production company that involved a homosexual character named Osman,” Ünal said, referring to the Turkish series “Aşk 101” (Love 101).
The Susma24 platform claimed Ünal’s remarks inadvertently exposed government censorship since the show does not involve any homosexual characters.
Turkey’s media watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), was recently granted censorship powers over online streaming services including Netflix.
In May an episode of political thriller series “Designated Survivor” was removed in Turkey upon a request from RTÜK.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has recently signaled stricter oversight on Netflix and social media platforms.