Is Netflix shutting down its Turkish TV shows?

Disturbing news for all fans of Turkish TV shows on Netflix. The digital platform canceled one of the shows and stopped all series production in Turkey. What’s going on and what will happen next?

Turkish social media this week has been stirred by news that Netflix has decided to leave Turkey; moreover, Netflix will be banned. However, this is not true. Netflix is ​​not going to leave the Turkish market, however, the production of most of the new Turkish series on the platform is stopped. The shooting of the series Atiye / The Gift starring Beren Saat, 50 m2 and Club continues. Filming of the series Love 101, as well as other new projects of the platform, has been suspended.

The main news of this week is the cancellation of work on the TV series If We Knew What We Know / Şimdiki Aklım Olsaydı, starring Özge Özpirinçci, Birkan Sokullu and Burak Yamanturk. Netflix paid out 500 thousand dollars for the work of the production company Ay Yapim. The work of the film crew on 8 episodes of the project was fully paid, but the series was canceled on the day filming began. What happened?

The scriptwriter of the project Ece Yorenç gave an interview to Turkish media. She said that a gay character was introduced in the script . He did not have any explicit scenes, just his orientation was mentioned in the plot and that’s it.

The script of the series was sent to the Ministry of Culture for approval. State censor RTUK ordered to cut references to the character’s gay orientation, that Ms. Yorenç did. The authorization for the filming was granted after changes to the script and the film crew started work.  However, Netflix management held a meeting with RTUK and decided that such interference in the creative process is contrary to its principles and may adversely affect the quality of products in the future. That is why it was decided to cancel the TV show.

Moreover, the situation was confused by the statements of some officials that the Osman character in the series Love 101 was gay, and they forced Netflix to change the script. In fact, it was always about the character that was written by Ece Yorenç for the series If We Knew What We Know / Şimdiki Aklım Olsaydı. There were never any gays at all in Love 101. However, this did not prevent a homophobic social media campaign against the series.

How will the stand-off between Netflix and the State Censor end? Will work continue on the platform’s Turkish serials or will all projects be cancelled? We will find out about this very soon.

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