Turkey has fined a television channel for showing a music video by Pink that featured “erotic dance figures of a homosexual nature”, a ruling made by its television watchdog showed.

Broadcaster AS TV was fined by the Turkish Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) over the video for “Secrets”, which it said “featured erotic dance figures of a homosexual nature” and was shown during hours when children and young people could watch and be negatively influenced.

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The video features some same sex couples dancing, sometimes suggestively, against a graffiti wall. Grammy-award winning singer Pink has scored hits like “What About Us” and “Raise Your Glass” over a 20-year career.

The television channel was fined 17,000 Turkish liras for the clip. AS TV is a local television channel broadcasting in the industrial western city of Bursa.

The watchdog has in the past fined broadcasters over an array of issues, including kissing scenes and adult language in television shows, and in March was granted the authority to also supervise and manage online content in the country.

In January, RTUK fined a TV station nearly 1 million lira ($155,000) over footage of young girls, aged from seven to 11, dancing in shorts in a talent competition after viewers complained of “child abuse”.

It has also previously fined several television channels for showing a music video featuring intimate scenes between the singer and her male co-star, saying the video was “one tick below an erotic film”.

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Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Alison Williams

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