How Turkey’s Ottoman TV empire is expanding its influence

The launch of satellite TV stations 15 years ago has allowed Turkey to expand its soft power within the Islamic world with relatable soap operas and historical dramas, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.

Turkish TV series, called "dizi,’’ include “popular Turkish dizi exports such as Noor, 1001 Nights, Magnificent Century and Resurrection: Ertugrul”, which “combine relatable plots, fancy outdoor locations and easily recognizable musical themes”, DW said.

These series have been vetted by Turkey’s media watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), which censors "scenes that are considered obscene and against moral values". This means that other Muslim countries have more confidence promoting them to their own conservative religious audiences.

Turkish series are often also dubbed into local varieties of Arabic, such as “Syrian-accented Arabic, which is emotionally more easily accessible than Fusha, the literary and formal Arabic”, according to DW.

The Turkish series Magnificent Century, about the life and relationships of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, has been seen by 500 million people worldwide and boasts a fan base that includes U.S. rapper Cardi B.

But the standoff between Turkey and the Gulf Arab states has led to a fall in revenue for the Turkish TV series. “Five years ago, the Turkish TV-industry made $80 million a year in the Middle East; in 2020 it was a mere $15 million (€12.2 million)”, due to an “unofficial boycott,’’ DW reported. 

In March 2018, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, described the Turkish series Noor as "anti-Islamic", "subversive" and said that any station that broadcast it would be "an enemy of God and his Prophet."

Turkish TV was also banned in Egypt in 2013 following the military coup against the Muslim Brotherhood government.

In response, Turkey has been expanding its cultural influence in Pakistan, with Resurrection: Ertuğrul - a series about the founder of the Ottoman Empire - being dubbed into Urdu. The popularity of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan increased markedly following this series, according to DW.

In response to the cultural soft power influence that the export of Turkish TV gives Turkey’s government, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have financed a $40 million production called Kingdoms of Fire, which first broadcast in November 2019. The series depicts the Ottomans as tyrannical occupiers of the Arab world.