Why Is Turkey’s Prime Minister at War with a Soap Opera?
By Piotr ZalewskiDec. 26, 201238
Crammed with trinkets, eunuchs, wine, giggly harem girls, seduction and intrigue, Magnificent Century — a Turkish soap opera based on the life and reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the 16th century Ottoman sultan — might at times appear gaudy, predictable and rife with historical inaccuracies. To the show’s estimated 150 million viewers, spread across Turkey, the Balkans and the Middle East, however, it’s nothing more than good entertainment. To Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, though, it’s blasphemy.
More:Turkey: Why Prime Minister Erdogan Riles Against Ottoman Soap Opera | TIME.com