Turkish PM talks Ottoman Empire, slams Turkish TV show  

KÜTAHYA

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Turkey should follow in its ancestors’ footsteps and go everywhere they have travelled to, the Turkish prime minister said during the opening ceremony of Kütahya Zafer Airport on Nov.25. 
 
“We move with the minds of our Dumlupınar martyrs,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said. “We move with the spirit that founded the Ottoman Empire.”
 
Erdoğan then criticized the opposition for asking “what [Turkey] was doing in Gaza, Syria and Sudan.”
 
“We must go everywhere our ancestors have been,” Erdoğan said. “We can not take [Atatürk's philosophy of] peace at home, peace in the world as passivity.”
 
“We have no eyes on any country's land,” Erdoğan said. “We want stability in the region as much as we want stability in our homeland. We always side with dialogue to solve problems, but if there is a threat against our country then we will not refrain from taking the necessary precautions. We will not remain silent.”
 
PM slams Ottoman TV show
 
In the same speech Erdoğan also dished out heavy criticism on the hit Turkish TV series, “Muhteşem Yüzyıl,” (The Magnificent Century) for its portrayal of the Ottoman ruler Süleyman.
 
“We alerted the authorities on this and we wait for judicial decision on it,” Erdoğan said. “Those who toy with these values should be taught a lesson within the premises of law.”
 
Muhteşem Yüzyıl is a popular TV show airing in Turkey and abroad, which follows the lives of the Ottoman ruler Süleyman and his love Hürrem Sultan. The show focuses more on Süleyman's personal life and palace life, portraying characters from the harem, as well as from the royal family.