Turkish star's trouble over 'explicit' video

Tarkan is Turkey's best-selling artist

Turkey's most popular chart singer, Tarkan, is in trouble with the country's TV watchdog for a music video in which he passionately kisses a model, it has been reported.

Almost 100 viewers have complained that the scene verges on "pornography", according to the country's Milliyet newspaper.

The watchdog could now ban TV stations from showing the video.

Tarkan Tevetoglu, 29, known to fans by his first name, is Turkey's best-selling artist and the first singer from the country to reach European and Latin American charts.

The singer's fifth album was recently released in Turkey

Tarkan has now called on fans to call the watchdog with messages of support in response to the complaints.

He told Milliyet that he was surprised by the furore.

"What is worrying is that the kissing scene is being considered pornographic," he is quoted as saying.

The watchdog has the power to close down subversive or "immoral" shows, but is unclear when it will reach a decision on whether to order stations to stop playing the video.

Tarkan's fifth album, Karma, is one of the biggest releases of the year in Turkey.

Previous controversy

He has previously been in trouble with Turkish authorities when he failed to report for compulsory military service in 1998.

The government threatened to strip him of his citizenship for being a deserter, but he served four weeks in the army after the government agreed to reduce the period from the normal 18 months.

In 1999, his singles Sikidim and Simarik reached the charts in a number of European countries, and he has also had success in Brazil and Mexico.

He was born in Germany and has homes in New York and Paris, and Karma has been due for an international release before the end of the year.