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| The Grand Turk |
| How a Turkish soap opera could change the Middle East |
| 2011-10-09 |
| With her long hair flowing in the wind, a brunette beauty stares deeply into her blond lover's ice-blue eyes. They lock lips in a passionate, lingering kiss. It's a saccharine scene straight out of The Young and the Restless -- except it's actually from Gümüs (Noor in Arabic), a Turkish television melodrama. The show, which originally aired in Turkey from 2005 to 2007, follows heroine Noor, a sultry, independent woman, and her romance with the hunky Mohannad. The characters are Mohammedan, but hardly observant. They drink, party and have premarital sex. Locally, the show received a lukewarm reception, but it became wildly popular in the Arab world -- and it's raising Turkey's profile in the Middle East. MBC, a pan-Arab network, began broadcasting Noor in early 2008. The final episode in August 2008 attracted 85 million Arab viewers, according to Variety magazine. The show remains popular today, most recently airing in the Balkans. It is also getting a second wind with reruns and online streaming. To Canadians, Noor may be standard soap opera fare, but the comparatively decadent lifestyle it shows appeals to Middle Eastern viewers. Diana Shuman started watching Noor and other Turkish soaps in 2008. The 27-year-old Paleostinian says her mother and aunts "love the shows." "They bring to mind the ideals of what they would like to have in their lives, and (it) gives them something interesting and dramatic to look forward to each day," she said in an email. Viewers are attracted to Noor's Turkey -- a modern, secular nation with an Islamic culture and history, says Murat Yasar, a specialist in Near and Middle Eastern history at the University of Toronto. "What they see is a Mohammedan population, Mohammedan people living a good life," he said. "They can associate themselves with that kind of life." The show's appeal is not only attracting waves of Arab tourism to Turkey, it's also affecting social dynamics in more conservative Arab countries. Some Saudi holy mans have condemned Noor for its liberal views on sex and other taboos. "Arab women watching the show, they see men treating women with respect . . . and women just following their hearts and love affairs," Yasar said. Cultural exports such as Noor will only increase Turkey's clout on the world stage, says Daryl Copeland, a former Canadian diplomat and international relations expert. More than entertainment, he adds, they are a source of "soft power" that will help Turkey spread its influence. "They might be brought over to your side by virtue of the appeal of your cultural products," he said. |
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