Istanbul: Lambda Istanbul has been ordered to appear before a judge next week to face charges it is violating Turkish law by stating it represents gays, lesbians, and transsexuals. (At Right: The four hundred year old Blue Mosque in Istanbul.)

The group was notified this week by the public prosecutor that the governor of Istanbul had requested the charges be laid under the Turkish Civil Code.

The law states that associations against law and morality cannot be established. If found guilty Lambda could be closed and its officers fined.

In 2005 a judge in Ankara refused to ban another LGBT civil rights group facing a similar charge.

The Ankara city government had petitioned a court to rule that Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Organization was breaking the morality laws.

In the Ankara case the judge noted that the American Psychiatric Association does not consider homosexuality as a disorder and said that the words "gay" and "lesbian" were widely used in daily life and scientific research.

The ruling was the first civil rights victory for gays and lesbians in Turkey.

Homosexuality has never been illegal in Turkey, but the government has refused to grant specific rights to gays. An attempt was made in 2004 to introduce an anti-discrimination bill in the Parliament, but it was later dropped by the government.

Turkey has been under increasing pressure from the EU to offer protections for its LGBT citizens if it wants membership in Europe.