Virginity tests in Turkey condemned

The American human rights group, Human Rights Watch, has called on Turkey to revoke a ruling by the country's health minister authorising virginity tests on nursing and medical students suspected of having sex.

Last week, Osman Durmus announced that female students at government-run nursing schools who were found to have had sex would be automatically expelled.

He said those who were suspected of having had sex could be tested.

The decision has caused uproar in Turkey, where the practice was officially banned two years ago.

Mr Durmus said the measure was intended to protect young women from prostitution and underage sex.

But in a letter to the Turkish prime minister, Human Rights Watch, called it a profound violation of women's rights.

Mr Durmus' own party, the right-wing Nationalist Action Party, has also tried to distance itself from the decision.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service