The truth is that no one expected it, but in the last decade Turkey has emerged as one of the largest producers of soap operas in the world and in 2020 it has been surpassed only by the United States as a global exporter of TV drama series.
The numbers speak for themselves: Around 150 Turkish productions were sold in almost as many countries around the world. What can I tell you about the audience: there are 600 million viewers spread across four continents, the number of viewers who have seen any of these dramatized shows.
But this data may not surprise you, because in the land of Félix B. Caignet, an audience accustomed to seeing the best and best in terms of soap operas has been treated to more than one offering from Gold Film or Madd Entertainment, the company in, fascinated by the merger of two of Turkey’s largest production houses in 2018 with the express aim of spreading their materials more widely.
Turkish novels are known as dizi, and among the most popular in Latin America are productions as diverse as Hakan the Protector, a series steeped in fantasy and mystery; La Novia de Istambul, inspired by a true love story; What is Fatmagul’s fault? based on a literary work full of entanglements, revenge and also passions; Another favorite this side of the planet is the historical fiction titled The Sultan; recreates the era of Soliman the Magnificent and Dreaming Bird that comes close to comedy.
the sultan
dreamy bird
Hakan the protector
How do they manage to captivate us? First the usual: love stories and casts that are beauty personified. Some experts even see a certain slowness in dramaturgy, the pleasure in details such as looks, gestures, music… as elements that distinguish them from the Latin American way of working and have their share in the resounding success that the Turks have achieved. .¨
But not a studio shot either, the locations of the Turkish soap operas really take us on a journey through the most incredible places of Istanbul, the Bosphorus… it is shot in real streets and palaces and the end result always strives for a certain cinematic air that theirs too has appeal.
Turkey is a transcontinental nation because although most of its territory belongs to the western part of Asia, there is another part of the country that is located in southern Europe. Although the capital is Ankara, the most populous city and possibly the best known is without a doubt Istanbul.
It is precisely there, in the Bosphorus, that the continents are joined or divided: it is an arm of water thirty kilometers long that delimits the borders between Asia and Europe.
According to tradition, King Byzas asked the oracle of Delphi for advice on where to build his new city, and the answer was: “Before the land of the blind”. Maybe that doesn’t tell us much at the moment, but it served as a password for this sovereign to reach the Bosphorus, where he discovered the wondrous mouth of the Golden Horn, a natural harbor that has protected all those who have settled in Istanbul: Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans.
Several specialized travel sites include Turkey among the ten most touristic countries in the world and it is not surprising if we consider that with a single ticket we can get to know two different and ancient cultures: Anatolia, also known as Asian Turkey, is one of the most longest settled regions in the world and Eastern Thrace is not far behind with a date of 40,000 years.
There are also around twenty World Heritage sites, including the Basilica of Hagia Sophia, which was registered in 1985. The so-called “Church of Holy Wisdom”, which was an orthodox cathedral, mosque and also a museum. For almost a thousand years it was considered the largest church in the world. To this day, it retains an impressive beauty and many stories to tell, accumulated over fifteen centuries of its existence. It is said that the rest of the mosques in Istanbul were built in his image and likeness.
To these attractions, thanks to such a mix of influences, we should add a gastronomy sui géneris, with dishes such as bulgur, beef balls, goat’s milk cheesecake and rahat lokum or Turkish delight, a traditional sweet that in five hundred years has conquered different palates, from Napoleon to Picasso, who is said to have eaten it almost every day. And one last little detail: Tulips, although we associate them with the Netherlands, first grew in Turkey.