Syrian Kurds protest against Turkish TV drama

A cartoon from the Facebook protest group

SMN No. 6, July 23, 2010

A group of Kurds from Syria and elsewhere have launched a Facebook campaign to call on Arab satellite TV channels to stop airing a Turkish drama accused of racist content against Kurds. The series, called “the good land”, which is broadcast on the Saudi-owned MBC dubbed in Arabic, is said to portray Kurdish rebel fighters in Turkey in a misleading fashion.

“This is a racist show,” said one of around 1400 members who joined the group since its creation in late May. The group showed scenes from the series representing a group of Kurdish rebels coercing a girl to join them and threatening to rape her. The Turks have managed to exert control over Arab drama channels, said another member.

Turkish TV series have become widely popular in the Arab region during the last few years. They are usually dubbed in the Syrian dialect on Arab channels. Some of them prompted protest in the past. The romantic drama “Noor” for example was deemed “un-islamic” and “subversive” by a Saudi mufti in 2008.