Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdogan is using Turkish drama produced for television as a means of bolstering influence and promoting its “Neo-Ottoman” vision in the Arab world, an arena where it had been long absent. With Turkey’s failure to gain EU membership, Turkey turned its attention to the Arab World as a strategic sphere of influence. It has bombarded the Arab region with a torrent of Turkish- produced Television series, promoting a flattering picture of Turkey, to serve Turkish interests in enhancing its influence within Arab society. This succeeded in creating, in the period prior to the fall of the Muslin Brother regime in Egypt, a regional context relatively receptive to Turkish policies and interests. 

Nostalgia  

Turkish Drama produced for television embody a governmental policy aimed at promoting a specific image of Turkey under the rule of the Justice and Development Party. The TRT Network has produced several historical dramas, including “Sultan Abdel Hamid” and “Qeyamet Ertogal”, which Erdogan personally has promoted, publicly praising their importance, receiving cast members in their historical costumes on the anniversary of capturing Constantinople, as well as visiting filing sites. 

While Turkey has exported different types of drama to the Arab world, historical and political dramas have been Turkey’s most effective instruments in promoting a vision of a “Neo-Ottomanism” which draws on a sense of Nostalgia to an imperial past, as argued in Mohammed Haqqan’s book “Nostalgia for Empire”.  In this respect, Turkey has drawn on two popular trends:

1- The popularity of historical and military drama: Viewers in the Arab World have shown a higher interest in historical and military drama in recent years, which Turkey has capitalised on, promoting a narrative that glorifies the Ottoman period as an important period in Islamic history, thus drawing on Islamic sentiments and historical nostalgia to create support for a new period of Turkish regional influence. 

2- The dream of a restored caliphate: The restoration of the Islamic caliphate remains an aspiration for many Muslims. Turkish dramas draw on these sentiments, by presenting an image of strong, benign and wise historical Ottoman rule, which resonates with many Muslims for whom the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate was a pivotal moment. Many of them still harbour dreams of restoring a glorious past; some perceive Turkey under Erdogan as the natural candidate for this restoration, while others seek to revive this dream through membership in militant groups who seek to establish an “Islamic State”.

Political objectives

Jana Jabbour, professor of international relations, in her book “Turkey: The Invention of an Emerging Diplomacy” argued that Turkish dramas have created a “Turkish brand” that has enhanced Turkey’s cultural influence in the Arab region . It can be argued that Turkish drama has created a new pattern of Arab social engagement with this “brand”, thereby allowing Turkey to pursue a number of objectives:

1- Whitewashing History: Turkish dramas have undertaken to portray the Ottoman empire in a noble light and erase the historical narrative that emphasises the “bloody” nature of Ottoman rule over the Arab world, promoting the roles played by the Ottoman empire in defending Islam and the countries of the region. This prompted the presentation of a counter-narrative through an Arab production, “Kingdoms of Fire”, which presents as Arab view of regional history and Arab -Ottoman relations under the Ottoman Caliphate, which seeks according to the author, Mohamed Suleiman Abdelmalek, to dispel the unchallenged “halos” surrounding certain historical events and figures. 

2- Promoting politically expedient values: Turkish dramas promote certain values that support current Turkish policies, such as the pivotal role of religion in running politics and the public sphere, the negative stance in the West towards Muslims, and the importance of Jihad in the establishment and preservation of a strong Islamist state. All these values are exploited by and reflected in current Turkish policies.

3- Creating a positive Turkish “brand”: Turkish drama seeks to project Turkey as a modern international power that is heir to the Ottoman empire. It thus emphasises the Ottoman, Islamic component of its history, not just the modern, secular elements introduced by Kemal Attaturk. Janna Jabbour argues that through projecting an image of modern Turkey that is both economically powerful and socially conservative, emphasising religious values, these television productions have created a positive brand for modern day Turkey. 

4- Promoting the image of Erdogan as the ideal ruler: Turkish drama emphasises the image of the Ottoman ruler as a defender of the Islamic nation, invoking this image in the discussion of modern Arab and Muslim issues, implying the superiority of the Ottoman model of a just ruler. President Erdogan also draws on this image of the ideal Ottoman ruler, implying that he represents a continuation of their tradition and model of rule. 

5- Projecting an image of strength: Turkish historical dramas emphasise the military and political might of the Ottoman empire, and the powerful Caliph who was the champion of all Muslims, and who defended the dignity and standing of the Ottoman state and the Muslim nation against any slights. This drama thereby promotes power as the decisive factor in international relations, which is consistent with the militarization of contemporary Turkish foreign policy and serves to increase its appeal and acceptance in the Arab region. 

In sum, Turkish drama has been an effective tool of soft power and has supported the regime’s economic and political objectives. It reflects the regime’s orientation to draw on particular aspects of its Ottoman heritage to bolster its current policies and promote its “Neo-Ottomanism” both in the region and the world as a whole.