Turkey’s state-owned broadcast corporation TRT has denied allegations that it had decided not to air the figure-skating competition in next month’s Winter Olympics in Sochi out of respect for conservative sentiments and a perception that the female skaters' costumes may not be appropriate to show to the Turkish audience.

This story broke when Devrim Gurkan, a former employee who had worked for TRT for 16 years, reported for Sahafe Jan. 22 under the headline, “The Winter Olympics will be remembered by TRT censorship.” 

“There is not much interest in the Olympics in Turkey,” Gurkan wrote. “But there is a fierce debate going on at the TRT. The reason of the debate is ice-skating and figure-skating competitions. Yes, TRT administration decided against airing all competitions categorized as ‘women’s ice skating,’ including couples and figure skating. The reason is obvious. They are sensitive about clothing. To them, this sport activity is not about music, dance, aesthetics, refinement and training. The problem is, it is showing [women’s] naked legs.”

Gurkan added, “Ice skating is the most watched sports event in Turkey after soccer and basketball since it was first broadcast by the TRT in 1976 at the Austria Winter Olympics. Katarina Witt in the singles women competition and Natalia Bestemianove and Andrei Bukin in the couples competition have become that generation’s household names. Tugba Karademir became the first figure skater from Turkey at the Olympics, and made us all excited to talk about this sport … but if the TRT administration does not change their minds, we will be talking about censorship this year.”