TV boycott in Egypt all Turkish dramas

ISTANBUL

Egyptian TV channels have launched a boycott of Turkish drama series, in a protest against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s stance.

Several Egyptian TV channels have launched a boycott of Turkish drama series, in a protest against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s stance on the violent unrest in the populous Arab state, according to Al Arabiya.net.

Erdoğan, Turkey’s Prime Minister, urged the U.N. Security Council to intervene after the popularly backed military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. On August 17, Erdoğan lashed out at the lack of international response on Egypt, saying organizations including the U.N. and EU should be ashamed of their inaction.

That drew the scorn of Egypt’s Cinema Syndicate and The Egyptian Creativity Front – a group of writers, film makers, journalists as well as scientists – which urged others to stop airing Turkish TV soaps, which have become widely popular in the Arab world. A number of TV channels, including Al-Hayat, Al-Nahar, and Al-Kahera Wal Nas, responded to the call by boycotting the soaps.

Al-Hayat TV channel informed its viewers that there would not be any Turkish drama TV series shown due to Erdoğan’s stance.

The owner of Al-Kahera Wal Nas, Tarek Nour, told Al Arabiya that in spite of the financial losses that they may face, they were keen to convey a message of protest to Turkey. Turkish dramas are said to attract healthy advertising rates on his channel due to the high viewership they receive. Nour expressed his discomfort over Turkey’s intervention in Egypt’s internal affairs, describing Ankara’s position on the situation as “narrow minded.” While Turkish soaps are usually produced in privately owned studios unrelated to the government, the boycott could put some pressure on Ankara, said Nour.

He highlighted how the soaps have helped Turkey lure more tourists from Egypt and the region, adding that the boycott would result in “huge losses” for Turkey.