Turkish TV Series - Promote Tourism but Are Dangerous for Russian Families 0 10

Turkey is betting on cinema to attract tourists: The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has announced a large-scale program to support TV series that will promote the country's tourist regions. Each episode produced according to specific criteria will receive funding of $100,000.

Turkey's Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced the support program for TV series aimed at promoting the country's tourism potential. As reported by Turprom, funding will be provided for projects that are planned to be exported to 10 countries across three continents. The final conditions of the program will be presented in the coming days at a presentation in TESİYAP (Association of Television and Film Producers).

Journalist Birsen Altuntaş reported that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, through TGA (Turkish Association of Television and Film Producers), plans to allocate $100,000 for each episode that meets the program's criteria. Payments will be made in the last quarter of 2026.

The General Director of Cinema, Birol Güven, emphasized the importance of cooperation with the Turkish Agency for Promotion and Development of Tourism (TGA) in implementing this initiative. "Our ministry will support each episode of the series that will be filmed in 2026, contain scenes that promote Turkey, and will be exported to at least 3 continents and 10 countries. If everything goes according to plan, we expect to start payments in the second half or the last quarter of 2026," he stressed.

Minister Ersoy stated that TV series applying for support will be evaluated by a special commission. The composition of the commission has not yet been determined. It remains unclear which specific 10 countries and 3 continents will be considered when assessing the export potential of the projects.

Turkish authorities have already reported the positive impact of Turkish series on the country's tourism industry. An example is the city of Mardin, located in southeastern Turkey. After the release of the series "Dalı Şehir" ("Distant City"), the tourist flow to the region increased by 100%.

The head of the cultural tourism department of the Association of Travel Agencies of Turkey (TÜRSAB), Ilham Seyale, noted that seven out of ten tourists now choose Mardin, largely thanks to the popularity of the series. He compared this situation to the effect produced by the series "Asmalı Konak" ("The Vine House") in the early 2000s, which stimulated tourism growth in Cappadocia.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism actively uses Turkish TV dramas in global advertising campaigns, recognizing their role in shaping the country's international image and stimulating domestic tourism. Local operators predict that by the end of the year, the number of visitors to Mardin will approach 2 million.

Recently, the Russian Veterans Organization proposed limiting the broadcasting of Turkish series. In their opinion, Russian women show excessive interest in male characters in Turkish series, which negatively affects their interest in Russian men.

The head of the organization, Ildar Rezyapov, stated that "the romantic and idealized male images created in the series change women's expectations, and this threatens the structure of the family." "Male characters in Russian films are often portrayed as 'losers,' while foreign men are presented as successful and attractive," he clarified.

Although Roskomnadzor has not received an official request to ban Turkish series, the initiative group expressed concern about the influence of Turkish series on the Russian audience. "Such media products are a cultural intervention that contributes to the destruction of the institution of family and a decrease in birth rates in Russia. It is important to define the concept of destructive propaganda and identify elements in media products that may fall under this definition," Rezyapov stated.