Turkish actress' new series airs in Arab channel

ISTANBUL

Songül Öden’s (former actress of Noor series) new series “Desperate Housewives” is now being screened on Arab TV channel MBC4, reported Daily Hürriyet.

Songül Öden’s new series “Desperate Housewives” is now being screened on Arab TV channel MBC4, according to Daily Hürriyet. The series has garnered huge interest in the country, because it stars famous actress Songül Öden, who also played Noor in the series “Gümüş” (“Noor” in Arabic).

Advertising for the new series uses the slogan “Meet with Noor once again” in Arabic countries.
Öden continues to charm Arab audiences with soap operas.

The final episode of “Noor,” broadcast by MBC TV, managed to pull in more than 80 million viewers from Morocco to Palestine and Saudi Arabia to Oman and beyond, according to the Times of Oman.

A full 78 percent of survey respondents in the Arab world and Iran report that they have watched Turkish soap operas.

“Indeed, these TV programs have taken the region by storm, with Turkish TV stars becoming pop idols,” a report by Paul Salem, titled “Turkey’s image in the Arab World,” said.

These soap operas have the effect of “creating attachment, understanding and affection for Turkish identity, culture, and values” in the region, the report said.

“In the same way Egyptian TV and cinema created a prominent cultural place for Egypt in previous decades, Turkish television has made similar inroads in Arab [and Iranian] popular culture,” the report said, adding that this has been complemented by a wave of tourism to Turkey in which Arabs and Iranians from various classes and walks of life are participating, making Turkey the region’s most popular tourist destination.