Friday, May 18, 2007

Istanbul Authorities Limit Swimsuit Photo Displays

A new controversy between secularists and Islamists in Turkey is being reported by Pakistan's Daily Times. Recently the municipality of Istanbul ordered stores selling Turkish-manufactured Nelson swimsuits to get permission before displaying photos of models in swimsuits and bikinis on store front windows on main streets. The government then denied permission to four companies. Secularists say this is another attempt of Islamists to interfere in daily life of Turks. Istanbul's municipal planning department says the applications were denied because they were not in proper form.