Turkey’s media watchdog fines TV station for using ‘God’ instead of ‘Allah’

ISTANBUL

Vous les femmes / Women! is a French sketch comedy show starring Judith Siboni and Olivia Côte.

Turkey’s media watchdog has issued a formal warning to a private station over its use of the word “God,” rather than “Allah,” in the dubbing of a foreign TV series.In its ruling, the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK) stated that Turkey was a Muslim country and such expressions could “negatively affect children’s perception of Allah,” deciding to issue a warning to the TV2 station by a majority of votes.The dialogues from a scene of “Vous Les Femmes / Women!” (Ah Biz Kadınlar), a French TV show that aired on Jan. 28, insulted the “national and sentimental values of society,” RTÜK stated.“Almost the whole of society in Turkey is Muslim. In Muslim societies, Allah is one and only. But it is seen that ‘God’ is used, rather than ‘Allah,’ in the saying of grace at military facilities and in broadcastings by some media organs in Turkey. Even if it is not a local production, using such remarks [in broadcasts] in Turkey during the daytime, when children could be watching, would obviously negatively affect children’s perception of Allah,” the report added.RTÜK had previously fined TV2 for another dialogue in the same series, in which two women characters talked about strawberry-flavored condoms.