Turkey’s booming drama industry captures hearts worldwide, boosts tourism

The hit series “Establishment Osman” and “Resurrection Ertuğrul” were filmed at Turkey’s largest movie studio, Bozdağ Film Studio.

Tourists explore sets replicating Ottoman and Byzantine-era castles, snap selfies with actors in traditional Ottoman costumes, and enjoy thrilling horseback stunt shows in Istanbul.

The global success of Turkish TV dramas, known as dizi in Turkish, has positioned Turkey as a leading exporter of TV series. Increasing numbers of tourists, like Finnish visitor Riia Toivanen, flock to the Istanbul-based studio.

“My mom and I watch movies and Netflix series together. I really enjoy shows like ‘Kara Para Aşk’ and ‘Kara Sevda,’ and I’ve also been watching Ottoman series. That’s why we came here,” Toivanen said.

Tourists wander through the sets, recreating historical castles, and take photos with actors.

Across the globe in Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina, 66-year-old retired schoolteacher Raquel Greco watches a Turkish romantic comedy, surrounded by memorabilia from her trip to Istanbul. She visited landmarks familiar from years of watching Turkish shows.

“It was exciting! I can’t express what I felt. It was like fulfilling a dream, like I was living what I saw every day in the TV series,” Greco said.

Between 2020 and 2023, global demand for Turkish series surged by 184%, making Turkey one of the largest exporters of TV shows worldwide, according to research company Parrot Analytics. This growth has boosted Turkey’s soft power.

“When you watch so intensely and with such demand, you become entrenched in the heart of popular culture in any country,” said Dr. Deniz Gürgen Atalay, Assistant Professor of Film and TV at Bahçeşehir University. “It’s inevitable that something embedded in popular culture will emerge as soft power and positively impact reputation.”

“We reach over 400 million viewers every night around the world,” said İzzet Pinto, CEO of Global Agency, which exports Turkish dramas globally. “The soft power created by Turkish dramas can’t be compared to political efforts.”

While content from the US and Britain remains dominant, the recent success of Korean content has inspired other countries to seek similar international acclaim.