ISTANBUL Turkey's state-run television TRT has axed a serial criticizing corruption and misuse of power among bureaucrats and politicians, its producer said Friday.

Umur Bugay told a press conference in Istanbul that the decision amounted to censorship, Anatolian News Agency reported. TRT has not said why it is dropping the serial after 12 episodes.

Turkey is currently in the grips of a severe economic crisis and the government has come under harsh public criticism for economic mismanagement and failing to crack down on widespread corruption. The serial, called Love for Armchairs', is listed among TRT's high-rated programs.

Bugay said TRT itself had initiated the serial and suggested it had come under political pressure to axe it, AFP reported.

He said he was now in touch with some private channels to sell the serial, adding "Now we will be freer and will even increase the dose of criticism."

Aydin Hatipoglu, deputy head of the Turkish Writers' Federation, who also took part in the press conference, said the TRT decision showed that "the mentality of state censorship was coming back."