The "Politicization" of Turkish Television Dramas

Abstract

Turkish television has undergone a distinctive transformation since the early 2000s in which new regulations, rapid market growth, and political pressures have interacted with and transformed each other. As Turkey set new records in 2013 for the highest number of journalists arrested worldwide, television dramas have suffered from their fair share of political pressures, while the contemporary political agenda has, in turn, infiltrated the content of television dramas. This article analyzes the ways in which Turkish television dramas appear as a sphere of political contest.