Turkish TV series, which are exported to approximately 170 countries every year, contribute to the promotion and dissemination of Turkish culture in a wide geography.
Turkish TV series have made Turkey the third largest exporter in this field, after the USA and the UK. According to the data of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, approximately 700 million people in the world watch Turkish TV series.
ISTANBUL (AA) – AİŞE HÜMEYRA AKGÜN – Turkish TV series, which are very popular especially in the Middle East, the Balkans and Asian countries where the Turkish language is spoken, establish closeness with many different regions with historical ties, common traditions and shared cultural identities.
While the success of Turkish TV series was talked about on many platforms around the world, it was discussed as a course titled “Global Turkish TV Drama” at Northwestern University.
– “Turkish TV series came and destroyed that communist propaganda”
Working at Northwestern University Qatar campus, Dr. Lecturer Yasemin Y. Çelikkol made a statement to the AA correspondent about the lecture she gave and the reasons for the success of Turkish TV series.
Çelikkol, who is a Bulgarian Turk and grew up and studied in the USA, said that he did his doctorate on Turkish TV series and that he researched these productions for many years.
Çelikkol stated that Turkish TV series have achieved great success in Bulgaria and Russia and said, “When I was a child, I saw how Turks were reflected in the Bulgarian media. There has always been an image of Turks as reactionary, barbaric and bad Muslims. They always reflected Islam in a very bad light. In other words, during the time of communism, relations between Bulgaria and Türkiye were not very good. Then Turkish TV series came and destroyed that communist propaganda.” he said.
Stating that Bulgarian nationalists are still unhappy about these developments, Çelikkol continued as follows:
“These developments, what kind of developments? For example, in the past, Bulgarians always went to Greece for holidays. Now they started to prefer Turkey. They even come to Turkey from Bulgaria for health tourism. While I witnessed the hate efforts against those Turks while growing up, I was very surprised to see Bulgarians rushing to Turkey today. “My research started with inspiration from this situation.”
Dr. Çelikkol mentioned that Turkish TV series were also successful in Russia and said, “In Russia, there was generally an impression like ‘Turkey has Eastern culture, it is a Muslim, reactionary country, it does not have high culture.’ But after the TV series ‘Magnificent Century’ was broadcast, Russians started to come to Turkey in droves. They had been coming for holidays and trade before. But this time they came to the Grand Bazaar to look for Hürrem’s ring, or to see the shooting locations, and even to buy a house in some of the filming locations. Of course, after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the arrival to Turkey from both Russia and Ukraine accelerated.” he said.
– “Turkish TV series have been continuing in prime time in Bulgaria for 15 years”
Pointing out that the process of Turkish TV series becoming popular began in the Middle East with the “Silver” series, Yasemin Çelikkol said, “In the Balkans, it started with the ‘A Thousand and One Nights’ series.” The TV series ‘Fatmagül’ün Crime Ne’ attracted a lot of attention in Latin America. “The ‘Magnificent Century’ first attracted great attention in Africa.” he said.
Çelikkol stated that he suggested giving a course on this subject to the university due to the impact of Turkish TV series and the interest of his students, and added:
“The name of the course is ‘ Global Turkish TV Drama‘, that is, the issue of the spread of Turkish TV series around the world. I give it to 3rd and 4th year university students. Many students wanted to participate. But our capacity is full. We approach the subject very scientifically in class. We start from the Middle East, then we read scientific articles on Turkish TV series from Qatar, Iraq, Morocco, Egypt, Palestine, Ghana, Bulgaria, Sweden, Kazakhstan, Russia, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, India and Indonesia. We look at productions from different angles. For example, what do the viewers think about the TV series, why do they watch them, why do they like them, why do they bother them, or why are these TV series created? politically and economically… We read scientific publications from different countries and students learn research methods.
In the articles we read, academics look at TV series from very different perspectives. For example, there is an approach such as: Are Turkish TV series created as soft power or are they filling a gap in the market? Another approach is the audience reaction. Why do they watch Turkish TV series? For example, why do they watch Turkish TV series when Bollywood is popular in India? Studies include these. As a result, while there is global media, especially Hollywood, a humble country like Turkey has begun to be watched worldwide and this success continues. Even in Bulgaria, Turkish TV series have been continuing in prime time for 15 years. “Students also enjoy the course very much.”
– “The success of Turkish TV series does not depend on a single reason”
Pointing out that Hollywood tries to normalize perspectives that do not suit everyone in its productions and imposes a culture, Çelikkol said, “Many of my viewers and students, in addition to Hollywood, especially like Turkey, as a Muslim country, both exhibit very high production quality in TV series and have such a great reputation in the world.” They like that it has become a big media outlet. The success of Turkish TV series does not depend on a single reason, so I ask my students to read different articles from different countries. Muslims and Uyghur Turks in Kashmir and Gaza watch ‘Resurrection Ertuğrul’ in a very different way. There, for the first time, they see Muslims not as terrorists, but as strong, honorable, capable of being world leaders, and according to my research, they watch this series to both raise their morale and feel a little stronger. “This situation also appears as a threat in the world.” made his assessment.
Yasemin Çelikkol also shared the information that many children in Pakistan are given the name “Ertuğrul” due to the influence of the TV series “Resurrection Ertuğrul”.
– “People are now fed up with Western cultural hegemony”
Pointing out that opposing productions have emerged in different countries such as India and Israel in order to break the power of Turkish TV series over the audience, Çelikkol said that he has been researching the Turkish TV series watched in Japan recently.
Stating that, as a Turk, he is proud of the success of Turkish TV series, Çelikkol said, “I think people in the world are sick and tired of Western cultural hegemony. Even though Hollywood is powerful, many people around the world see that other countries’ productions can be just as beautiful, even better quality and closer to them. They don’t want to be exposed to the violence and sexuality that Hollywood displays anymore. “They can watch Turkish TV series comfortably with their families.” shared his opinion.
– “Worldwide Turkish TV series continue on a very good path with their unique themes and cinema techniques.”
Yasemin Y. Çelikkol stated that although Zambia is a Christian country, they were very impressed by the prayer scenes in Turkish TV series and said, “Recently, Turkish TV series on Netflix have become very popular. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Some productions there do not exhibit the characteristics of Turkish TV series. They’re actually trying to be more like Hollywood TV series. I think this is also wrong. Because Turkish TV series around the world continue on a very good path with their unique themes and cinema techniques.” he said.
Stating that Turkish TV series are watched over and over again in many parts of the world, Çelikkol said, “My Uber driver in Qatar was from Afghanistan and said that he watched the TV series ‘Resurrection Ertuğrul’ 3 times, both in his own language and in English. He explained that he did not go to work when he first came out. In other words, a driver from Afghanistan wants the Ottoman Empire to return and Muslims to rule the world, and with these dreams he has embraced the TV series ‘Resurrection Ertuğrul’.” he said.
Çelikkol emphasized that many people started learning Turkish because of Turkish TV series and continued his words as follows:
“ Turkish courses are full even in Greece. A family of Mexican origin in Texas did not want to watch Turkish TV series with English subtitles. Because they felt like they were missing something in the story. That’s why the family was trying to learn Turkish. In Ethiopia and Somalia, they were influenced by Turkish TV series and preferred thin-waisted teacups. In other words, these productions also increased trade to Africa. I know that a lot of furniture and kitchenware comes to the Middle East from Turkey. “Turkish TV series have had a huge impact both commercially, in terms of tourism and, most importantly, with their soft power, and have brought Turkey to a very different place.”
