Media fury in Turkey over swimsuit photo ban

ISTANBUL, May 18 (Reuters) A decision by Turkey's largest city to ban some pictures of swimsuit models has revived claims about the rising power of Islam, with newspapers saying the move was more befitting of theocratic Iran than a secular democracy.

Istanbul municipality asked stores selling swimwear made by Turkish manufacturer Nelson to seek permission to place photographs of models in swimsuits and bikinis on store front windows located on main streets. It then denied them permission.

The controversy follows several large secularist protests in Turkey, a secular republic with an overwhelmingly Muslim population, against the ruling AK Party, which controls the Istanbul city authority and which has Islamist roots.

Secularists say AK wants to undermine Turkey's separation of state and religion and to boost the role of Islam in daily life, claims which the centre-right, pro-business party denies.

''Is this becoming a land of mullahs like Iran?'' asked the Vatan daily, commenting on the row over the swimwear pictures.

Echoing that comment, the staunchly secular Cumhuriyet daily quoted local consultant Ali Saydam as saying ''(The AK Party) is creating worries that they are turning Turkey into Iran.'' This year four firms were denied permission to hang photographs in store windows, according to newspaper reports.

Moris Eskinazi, part owner of Nelson, told Reuters the need to seek municipality permission was new.

''We've never had to get permission before, and they wanted us to bring a copy of the photographs we planned on putting up,'' he said.

''EU STANDARDS'' ''They said that the photographs were not up to EU standards and that they could cause car accidents,'' said Eskinazi, quoting Istanbul's urban planning department.

The municipality's urban planning department said it denied permission because the application was not in the proper form.

''We have no law that forbids (the photographs) of these companies,'' Ahmet Faruk Yanardag, municipality spokesperson, told Reuters.

Cumhuriyet newspaper said the controversy showed the AK Party was ''secular only in name''.

''Headscarf advertisements can easily find space in Istanbul advertising space,'' the paper added.

Other newspapers said some promotional swimwear photographs were denied permission due to their proximity to mosques.

Yanardag denied the accusation, citing an existing billboard near a mosque. ''We are concerned with the aesthetics of the city, Istanbul after all is a historical city ... we have to make sure these photos are placed in appropriate places for advertising purposes,'' he said.

REUTERS RN HS0923