Turkish TV series tourism: Culture and Travel Context

Turkish TV series (Turkish: Türk dizileri) are the leading cultural export of Turkey. Beginning from the 2010s, they have become the primary reason to visit the country for many fans.

Most internationally acclaimed Turkish series are melodramatic soap operas, portraying family issues or romance between rich boy and poor girl (or vice versa), although some are based on (more or less) true historical personalities or belong to altogether different genres, such as crime fiction.

The earliest TV series production in Turkey dates back to 1974. In the 1990s, with the exponential increase of the TV channels in the country, the domestic production soared accordingly, although many Turks were tuning into dubbed US and Latin American shows. In the first decade of the 21st century, some of the Turkish series started to achieve international fame, however, it wasn't until the 2010s they started to take the watchers abroad by storm. The Turkish series are particularly popular in the Balkans, the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, likely due to the common cultural traits one way or another, but many have succeeded in winning hearts and minds of viewers elsewhere globally, making the country the fastest growing TV series exporter and the second highest only behind the US. In many countries, the local remakes of the Turkish shows have been aired.

The explosive sudden popularity of Turkish drama has not been without controversy though: in the more conservative Islamic countries, the free love relations and drinking featured in the series were seen as a malice to the society by the religious authorities, while in the Balkans, the series were viewed more in light of promoting old school family values, but blamed for equally promoting a reemerging Turkish influence. Even the Turkish president had a comment on the historical accuracy of a certain series.

The below list only includes locations featured in the productions with a certain level of international following. The locations are divided by the original titles and are ordered chronogically according to the original release dates. Keep in mind that many are residential and not open to public, so expect not much else than viewing from the outside.

While spoilers are kept to a minimum below, some are inevitably included in the descriptions.

The Foreign Groom was originally released between 2004 and 2007. Except for a 1986 production exported to the then-existing Soviet Union, this was the first Turkish series aired on foreign channels.

Originally broadcast 2005–2007, Noor has been particularly successful in the Arab world, and was the first one to massively initiate the "Turkish drama tourism".

4 Edip Efendi Yalısı (Kandilli Cd 16A, Kandilli, Istanbul). This yalı (historic waterside mansions along the Bosphorus) was the main setting. It's on a promontory and best viewed from a Bosphorus boat tour. The building was also one of the settings of Paramparça, see below.

5 Polonezköy (in the Asian outskirts of Istanbul; 40 km (25 mi) northeast of the city centre). Ömer and Filiz lived here.

This cultural overview is an excerpt of a community travel guide. Confirm current access, schedules and prices with the venue before planning a visit.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Turkish TV series tourism by Wikivoyage contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. This adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.