Gazans take delight in Turkish TV show

GAZA CITY - Anatolia News Agency

Gazan children are buying bags, notebooks and pencil cases featuring pictures of the main character, Polat Alemdar, played by actor Necati Şaşmaz. AA Photo

Long one of the most popular shows on TV for Turkey’s males, “The Valley of the Wolves” (Kurtlar Vadisi) is now gaining fans in a new locale, Gaza.

Children are buying bags, notebooks and pencil cases featuring pictures of the main character, Polat Alemdar (played by Necati Şaşmaz).

A mother from Gaza, Ummu Ahmad, said her son had an obsession with the character, who has been renamed as Murat Alemdar on the Arabic-language broadcast of the show, adding that she had traveled to every stationary store to locate pencil cases featuring Şaşmaz’s visage.

Halid Ashur said many forums were fighting to acquire the latest episodes of the series and broadcast it on their web pages.

The man’s brother, Ahmad Ashur, said many people appreciated the series, believing that it was largely close to reality and that it depicts events that could happen between Iran, Syria and Iraq.

At the same time, people in the strip are also eagerly devouring the latest social media news about the show, while using the platform to call on the show’s main actors to come and visit Gaza.

“In the university we are talking about the latest episodes of the TV series. We discuss the events in the series. ‘Valley of the Wolves’ is not just a TV series. It is more than this,” said a university student identified as Rim.

Palestinian art critic Said Ebu Mualla also commented on the popularity of the TV series, saying: “There are many reasons that this TV series become a phenomenon. However, the most important of them is the special effects and the scenario. The success of the leading character is also a reason for the TV series’ success. The events also focus on the Palestinian issue and the problems of the region.”