"Turkey bans Maori war dance
From correspondents in Ankara
April 23, 2005
TURKISH authorities have banned the traditional Maori haka war dance from ceremonies marking the 90th anniversary of the ill-fated World War I Gallipoli battle, deeming it 'obscene'.
'Overzealous', read the front-page headline of the daily Vatan, which condemned the decision by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to bar Maori performers from doing the haka at Monday's ceremonies.
The daily Aksam reported that Ankara 'pleaded' with officials in New Zealand not to send Maori haka dancers to the Gallipoli Peninsula in north-western Turkey, where the ill-fated battle occurred in 1915."
More:The Daily Telegraph | Turkey bans Maori war dance
