Climbing to top 3 in global market, what makes Turkish series different?

A recent article in The Economist has put the global spotlight on Turkish TV and OTT series.

Using latest figures from data firm Parrot Analytics, the article claims that Turkish TV shows that are scripted (as opposed to ‘reality’ shows) have left similar entertainment from other countries, including South Korea, to climb to the global third spot after the US and the UK, in terms of popularity.

TRT World explores the world of scripted Turkish TV series through the lenses of a film director, a producer and audiences from Egypt, Pakistan and Malaysia, where these programmes have gained phenomenal popularity.

Experts say expressing a variety of emotions in different ways is a deep-seated value in Ottoman culture and the religion of Islam.

Director Murat Pay, who has several feature and documentary films under his belt, says even if a script (of a series) doesn’t include any religious or historical motif, poesy is so embedded in the culture that it organically flourishes in the scripts.

And this resonates with foreign audiences, as they dive deep into the explorations of the complicated nature of human existence, which don’t simplify emotions for thrills.

From different shades of love — for the opposite gender, the family, the nation and even God — to feelings of jealousy, hate and anger, often filtered through social, moral and religious-cultural values, the scripts of Turkish TV and OTT series carry us into a turbulent sea of emotions.

The ease at which they deepen the depiction of diverse emotions on screen perhaps explains why their narratives connect with diverse audiences with different languages and cultures.

A striking difference in Western productions vis a vis their Turkish competitors is the more reserved way in which the former display such emotions.

Turkish scripts also bring forth unknown aspects of Türkiye and its people for the global audience, emphasise experts.

Connecting a modern outlook with spiritual foundations, these series provide an image of Muslims and Islam that is different from what is usually depicted by Hollywood.

Emotional heritage

Turkish productions integrate an authentic world of emotions belonging to this geography into the structure of classical drama, Pay tells TRT World. He thinks this is why they find such a wide acceptance abroad.

When compared with British and American productions, most of which are geared towards overwhelming the audience with thrills and action, Turkish scripts enrich emotions, he adds.

Aiza Rafi, who is a 23-year-old viewer of Turkish series and prefers romantic storylines, also appreciates the wide range of emotions presented in these stories.

Islamic culture provides a rich set of values that foreground these emotions, says Pay, adding that how the characters demonstrate love, sacrifice, etc., in these series connects with the global audiences.

Rafi, who lives in Pakistan’s cultural capital, Lahore, points to these cultural similarities in family values and societal norms that she finds in Turkish series resonate with her.

Nurulhuda Zakariya, 40 year-old, from Selangor in Malaysia, also says she empathises with characters because of the shared cosmopolitan values.

In a similar vein, 31-year old Shaimaa from Egypt emphasises the personal values echoed in these series that reflect their own heritage and culture.

Combining modernity with “their own roots”

While surfacing the modernity that is familiar to these diverse viewers, Turkish dramas add something extra — the rooted traditions of the country — says Pay.

This is also reflected in the character development in a narrative, where characters who are dressed in Western attire and lead lives similar to Westerners, effortlessly uphold the rich cultural heritage and values belonging to this geography, according to Emre Avsar, a scriptwriter and producer of several such TV dramas.

He calls the upholding of values like respect for parents, rights and responsibilities of parents and children, manners, moral boundaries as “Anatolian wisdom”.

Upholding modern and traditional identities simultaneously, they also organically give rise to moral conflicts in the narratives that are all too familiar to their audiences.

Deep human interactions

Avsar calls these psychological conflicts within Turkish drama narratives the ‘East-West synthesis’, leading to a chain of events affecting the relationship dynamics within families.

Shaimaa, 31-year old, who lives in Alexandria, Egypt, is mostly drawn to the series that portray strong human relations and interactions, finding intimate encounters between characters appealing and engaging.

Lahore’s Rafi also thinks that strong character development is what makes the narratives even more effective.

Malaysia’s Zakariya prefers the themes of generational conflicts, societal expectations, and dynamics within families that flourish from these conflicts

All these themes deepen the stories.

Strong tradition of storytelling

All these complicated relations are crowned by a strong storytelling capacities, experts emphasise.

Pay talks of Türkiye’s strong storytelling tradition that traces back to oral cultures of Karagoz and light comedy (Ortaoyunu), embellished by expressive musical scores, all of which bring authenticity to these productions, as they meld to imply belongingness — unfamiliar traditions, customs and social dynamics — to an audience exhausted with Western and Hollywood productions.

For Zakariya, all the authenticity adds depth to the storytelling.

In the long run, Turkish series offer a different kind of exposure than the Western world, as audiences learn Turkish and become familiar with an unfamiliar, wondrous world of emotions that are unique to Türkiye, Pay says.

Bedri Mermutlu, professor of sociology at Istanbul Ticaret University, expresses this in a similar vein that the audience wants a change in stories and is curious about the life of different people from a different society.