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Turkish TV Series' Success in Greece to Spread

Delighted with high ratings for Turkish TV series’ on Greek television, Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism said the shows would be aired in a number of countries free of charge in a bid to spread the country’s influence and culture and noted that Greek fans are learning basic phrases in Turkish.
According to Turkish newspaper reports, Vice-Minister Abdurrahman Arıcı said the ministry would support the spread of the television series. “With TV series’ we can enter every house and spread the influence of Turkish culture,” he said, adding that tourists coming from Middle Eastern countries often visited the venues where the shows were shot.
Turkey has signed deals with seven companies that market TV series, films and documentaries to the world, Arıcı said, speaking at the October meeting of the Skal Antalya Club. According to an article in daily Radikal, while Turkey’s TV exports currently amount to a total of $60 million, and the aim is to increase this amount to $100 million.
The Magnificent Century,  Muhteşem Yüzyıl, about Suleiman, the 16th-Century sultan who led conquests of Christianity, including on Rhodes, is among the most popular, and the ministry would particularly like to air this series in Kyrgyzstan, said Arıcı. The show gets high ratings in Greece as well although Thessaloniki’s Bishop Anthimos and the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party said it is unpatriotic for Greeks to watch and urged them to stop.
The Daily News has previously reported that Greek audiences in particular have learned a number of Turkish words thanks to the series that are aired in their country. Turkish series such as Sıla, Asi, Acı Hayat  (Bitter Life), Deniz Yıldızı (Starfish) and Lale Devri (Tulip Age) are among those being shown in Greece, and Greeks have started to pick up simple words and phrases in Turkish such as “Hello,” “How are you?” and “My dear.”
The irony is not lost on critics, especially as Greeks and the Orthodox Church fought to keep the Greek language and culture alive for 400 years during the Ottoman Occupation but now TV soap operas have reached into Greek homes to spread Turkish influence and culture in a way that war and invasion couldn’t.

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