Turkey: a new Sultan ?

PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan

(New York Times) The “Magnificent Century", a sort of Ottoman-era “Sex and the City” set during the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, is wildly popular in Turkey and across the Middle East. But one person who is decidedly not a fan is Turkey’s conservative prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is so incensed at the show’s steamy depiction of the heroic sultan that he has urged legal action against the series.

Critics accuse Erdogan of behaving like a modern-day sultan, at home and abroad. Hundreds of military officers have been jailed on charges of plotting a coup against Erdogan; others including academics, journalists and politicians are facing trial on similar accusations.

Cultural critics and political rivals railed against Mr. Erdogan, accusing him of cultural authoritarianism and censorship. Muharrem Ince, deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, accused Mr. Erdogan of behaving like a sultan, saying that he was jealous of the series’ popularity and determined to be the only sultan in the country. Mr. Erdogan, whose governing party has Islamic roots, has sought to embrace and rehabilitate the Ottoman Empire, a period of grandeur when the sultans claimed the spiritual leadership of the Muslim world before the empire’s ignominious decline by World War I.


Turkey’s culture and tourism ministry responded that popular Turkish soap operas were generating tens of millions of dollars in export income for Turkey and were widely watched across the region, expanding the exposure of the country. “Magnificent Century” attracts a third of the prime-time audience in Turkey and draws an audience of up to 150 million from Cairo to Kosovo, analysts said.

Even the sultan’s real heirs appeared more sanguine than Mr. Erdogan. Osman Selaheddin Osmanoglu, son of the last prince in the Ottoman Palace, told The Hurriyet Daily News that while he did not appreciate the lascivious portrayal of his ancestors, he wasn’t all that bothered as it was only a fictional work. “I am following the series,” he said. “But I don’t take it seriously since it is only a soap opera.”

EU-Digest