It is one thing for the AKP to ban alcohol or close down gay clubs. It is another to try to cordon off kissing. A kiss is a verb in the language of love. For a conservative regime that seeks to make Islam the basis of public morality and the faith-bound patriarchal family the foundation of the nation-state, this gesture of intimacy is also a political act, particularly when done in public by unmarried young people.

Read more at the Huffington Post.