About sixty women, men and children stand in front of the wide marble stairs of the Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, built in the Art Nouveau style, watching the cage-shaped electric elevator that is currently taking guests down, and it is almost 130 years old.
The hotel concierge asks the group if they are waiting for a tour and learns that among them are visitors from Spain.
"Of course, since the series aired, visitors have come from all over the world," he says. Many come to see this lavish filming location and to immerse themselves in history, at least for a moment.
The series he is talking about is called "Midnight at Pera Palace" and is based on the book of the same name by American author Charles King. As of March 2022, the series is available worldwide on the Netflix platform.
The story begins with journalist Esra, who wants to write an article about a hotel opened in 1895, where internationally famous people such as Agatha Christie, Alfred Hitchcock, Greta Garbo and Ernest Hemingway have stayed.
From the hotel manager Ahmet, the heroine Esra learns a secret: with an old room key to this luxurious building, it is possible to travel through time.
Esra travels to 1919 and becomes a witness to an international conspiracy: a British commander is planning an assassination attempt on the founder of the state, Kemal Ataturk, which must be prevented at all costs. Thus begins a historical adventure in the old European part of Istanbul.
Export to more than 170 countries
Turkish series have enjoyed great international success since the mid-2000s. According to the Turkish Service Exporters Association, they are sold in 170 countries annually.
According to some estimates, these productions generated revenue of around $2023 million in 600. It is expected to cross the $2024 billion threshold in XNUMX.
According to Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat, Turkish series are watched by 800 million viewers worldwide at the same time.
The road to success began with dramas like “Silver”, “1001 Nights”, “Ezel”, “Suleiman the Magnificent” and “Black Love”. The first buyers were Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, and soon followed by Arab countries, Latin America, Balkan countries, Russia and Europe.
Parrot Analytics, a research firm that tracks the global entertainment industry, found that demand for Turkish series grew by 184 percent between 2000 and 2023.
Love dramas and social criticism
According to the Turkish Media Supervisory Council RTUK, television is watched on average four hours a day in Turkey, mostly prime-time series. More than 70 percent of all households have a subscription to streaming services.
The offer is wide, from love stories and comedies to historical and social dramas. However, the more open and critical the series are, the more often they come under attack from the Turkish judiciary. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan does not hide his disapproval of these series.
Political scientist Haki Tass from the Hamburg Leibniz Institute for Global and Regional Studies (GIGA) says that Erdogan even called these productions a threat to national security and accused them of Islamophobia. After that, the penalties were reintroduced.
A year ago, DW reported on the broadcast ban and fine for the series "Red Buds," which addresses deep divisions between secular and religious groups.
After a successful start in late 2023, pro-government organizations fiercely protested against the series, claiming that “Red Buds” offended religious sentiments. The broadcaster was punished with a two-week broadcast ban and a fine of 275.000 euros.
Recently, Turkish authorities have also been paying attention to art agencies. About twenty of them have been investigated for alleged collusion and violations of cartel laws.
More than business
The Turkish government has a dual attitude towards the series – it also uses them as a platform for propaganda, through which it wants to influence the public and propagate its ideological views.
While private productions are increasingly under pressure, the state is investing heavily in its own series. Every year, state-run TRT commissions numerous series that portray the history and “values of the Turkish nation” from an Islamist-conservative perspective.
One example is “Resurrection of Ertugrul,” a series that depicts the life of the ancient Turkish tribal leader Ertugrul in the 13th century.
In addition, state productions are also used to smear critics or portray them in a negative light. A prominent example is the TRT production "Metamorphosis".
In it, entrepreneur and human rights activist Osman Kavala, who has been in prison for eight years, is portrayed as an enemy of the state.
What does the government intend to do?
Political scientist Tas believes that the Turkish government is trying to impose a lifestyle on society according to the vision of President Erdogan's party. Series that deviate from this norm face measures, penalties and pressure to silence them.
In recent years, TV series have become a kind of outlet for social criticism. Messages are hidden in the characters and the plot. Since the opposition's success in the local elections a year ago, this trend has become increasingly pronounced, concludes Tas.
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