London: American software company Microsoft has confirmed that is investigating reports that the Government of Turkey is preparing to ban one of its games-Minecraft.
According to the BBC, the Family and Social Policies Ministry of Turkey has in a study claimed that the game promotes violence.
A report appearing in Turkey's Haberturk newspaper, also quoted the ministry, as saying, "Although the game can be seen as encouraging creativity in children by letting them build houses, farmlands and bridges, mobs [hostile creatures] must be killed in order to protect these structures. In short, the game is based on violence."
There are conflicting reports that suggest that the game could be banned, or, Microsoft be asked to edit it.
Haberturk further reported that the ministry's legal affairs department has been instructed to take the first steps towards banning Minecraft.
But a spokesman for the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC, Fatih Oke, was quoted by the BBC and the Christian Science Monitor, as saying that there was no question of the game being banned.
While Turkey is not noted for banning computer games, some websites have taken it down recently.
