About 60 men, women and children stand in front of the wide marble staircase in the art nouveau-styled Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, admiring the 130-year-old electric elevator as it transports guests up to their rooms. A bellhop asks the group if they’re waiting for a tour, and learns that some of the visitors have come all the way from Spain.
“Of course, since the series was released, we’ve had visitors from across the globe,” he said. Many come to witness the magnificent filming location, he added, and delve into its rich history.
The series he’s talking about is a Turkish time-travel show named “Midnight at the Pera Palace,” inspired by Charles King’s book of the same title. It has been available on Netflix since March 2022.
The story begins with a journalist named Esra, who is looking to write an article about the grand hotel that first opened its doors in 1895 and since then welcomed guests like Agatha Christie, Alfred Hitchcock, Greta Garbo and Ernest Hemingway.
The hotel manager Ahmet tells Esra, the story’s heroine, a secret: One of the splendid building’s old room keys is a time-traveling portal. Esra travels back to the year 1919 and learns about an international conspiracy, in which a British officer plans to assassinate the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. This plan must be stopped at all costs, and so begins the historical drama in Istanbul’s European district.
Turkish series sold in over 170 countries
Turkish television shows have been becoming global hits since the mid-2000s. According to the Turkish Exporters Assembly, 170 countries buy up Turkish series each year. In 2023, these productions are said to have racked up about $600 million (€575 million) in exports. Last year, this figure was estimated to be in the billions.
Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat has said that worldwide, some 800 million viewers watch Turkish shows at any one time.
The success story began with the melodrama “Gumus” (“Silver”), the soap opera “1001 Nights,” the crime thriller “Ezel” and the action series “Black Money Love.” The first takers were Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, soon to be followed by Arabic-speaking countries, Latin America, the Balkans, Russia and Europe.
Parrot Analytics, a leading entertainment analysis company, estimates that between 2000 and 2023, global demand for Turkish television series rose by 184%.
Romance and social commentary
The Turkish state agency for monitoring broadcasts, the Radio and Television Supreme Council, has said that countrywide, viewers watch about four hours of television every day — and especially series broadcast during prime evening viewing hours. Over 70% of all Turkish households have subscriptions to streaming services.
The selection of shows on offer is vast: From romance and comedy to historical and social dramas. But, the more revealing and critical the show, the more likely it is to find itself in the crosshairs of Turkey’s judicial system.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made no secret of not being a fan of such shows. He’s even gone so far as to call such productions anti-Islamic and a threat to national security, said Hakki Tas, a research fellow at Hamburg’s GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies. Tas added that Erdogan usually follows up such criticism by imposing penalties.
DW’s Turkish desk has reported on the fees and bans slapped on the popular TV series “Kizil Goncalar” (“Crimson Rosebuds”), which focuses on the deep divide between the country’s religious and secular groups. After its successful launch in early 2023, pro-government groups and organizations were up in arms, claiming the series violated “spiritual values.” The show received a two-week broadcasting ban and was fined €275,000 (about $288,000).
Now, Turkish authorities are also zeroing in on artistic management. Roughly two dozen casting agencies are currently being investigated for alleged collusion and violations of competition law.
More than just a business
Turkey’s government is ambivalent toward television series, as it also uses them as a propaganda platform to influence public opinion and spread its ideological values.
While private productions are increasingly under pressure, the state has been investing heavily in its own productions. Each year, national public broadcaster TRT commissions numerous series that convey the history and values of the Turkish nation from a conservative Islamic perspective. One example is the television series “Resurrection: Ertugrul,” which is based on the life of the 13th-century lord Ertugrul, father to the founder of the Ottoman Empire.
State productions are also used to vilify critics or cast them in a negative light. The TRT production “Metamorfoz,” for example, portrays the entrepreneur and human rights activist Osman Kavala, who has been imprisoned for eight years, as an enemy of the state.
What’s the government’s aim?
Political scientist Hakki Tas believes the Turkish government is trying to impose a lifestyle on Turkish society that aligns with the values of Erdogan’s Islamo-conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP). Series that do not conform to AKP’s values have penalties and pressure imposed on them — but these shows have become a kind of release valve for social commentary over the past few years.
Tas believes these shows’ characters and plots often contain hidden messages. And he’s found that trend has become more prominent since opposition parties saw an upswing in last year’s local elections.
This article was originally written in German.
