Turkish TV warned over transsexual's army remarks

ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish media watchdog rebuked an entertainment show on Thursday for allowing a transsexual singer to question whether an army campaign against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq was worth the lives of soldiers.

Bulent Ersoy, one of Turkey's most popular singers who had a sex change in the 1980s, caused a stir this week by saying that were she able to give birth to a son she would not allow him to go to fight in neighboring Iraq.

"A war is waged with conspiracies designed in office rooms. Some people write it and everyone is forced to play along. If I were fertile and had a child, I could not accept burying him for others' plans," Ersoy said during a show on Star TV.

Criticizing the armed forces or appearing to questioning the sacrifice of soldiers, considered "martyred", is a taboo in Turkey and insulting the military is a crime. Turkish prosecutors have already started an investigation against Ersoy.

Turkey's military has said 24 soldiers have so far died in a cross-border offensive that began on February 21. The military said on Thursday that 237 PKK Kurdish guerrillas had died so far.

Turkey's state Radio and Television High Board (RTUK) said the Popstar Alaturka show failed to comply with national security and the principle of general morality when it allowed Ersoy to mock the military and its operation in northern Iraq.

Many people called the board to complain about Ersoy's comments, the RTUK said. It was not immediately clear whether the channel would be fined.

Transsexuals and men in drag are popular on Turkish TV entertainment programs.

(Reporting by Selcuk Gokoluk, editing by Mark Trevelyan)