Ottoman conquest of Istanbul to be focus of Netflix’s new Turkish series

ISTANBUL

Well-known Turkish actor Tuba Büyüküstün.

The period of the rise of the Ottoman Empire will be the center of the new Netflix series “Rise of Empires: Ottoman.”

The series will focus on the period of the conquest of Istanbul and the rule of Ottoman Emperor Mehmet II, who conquered the city from the Byzantines in 1453.

The show was filmed in the form of a documentary-series and the original language of the series will be English.

In the documentary series, consisting of six episodes, Mehmet II embarks on a campaign for Constantinople, the Byzantine capital at the time, ushering in a new era.

Istanbul had been referred to with dozens of other names throughout history, such as Byzantion, Constantinople, Konstantiniyye and Dersaadet, but the city came to be known as Constantinople, or the “city of Constantine” during the Byzantine period.

The series was directed by Emmy award-winning Turkish director Emre Şahin.

Well-known Turkish actors Tuba Büyüküstün and Cem Yiğit Üzümoğlu share the leading roles of the series.

Prominent academics Celal Şengör and Emrah Safa Gürkan are the script advisors of the show.

The documentary series was launched by Los Angeles-based Turkish production company Karga Seven Pictures and STX Entertainment.

The series, which will blend fiction and documentary elements, will be released on Jan. 24 on Netflix.