Major Greek channel ANT1 has decided to cut a Turkish series from its programming due to the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
The move by Turkey led to the cancellation of the broadcast of a daily Turkish drama series on ANT1, according to what the Chief Content Officer of the channel, George Pofantis, said without specifying which show it was.
The Chief Content Officer stated in the presentation of the new schedule that there were thoughts for the screening of a daily drama series from the neighbouring country for the summer, however, after what happened in Hagia Sophia, they changed their mind and decided to “cut it.”
For fifteen whole years, 55 different Turkish series have put the Turkish language in almost every Greek home, with countless hours of screenings that show ideal images of a fantastic European Turkey that looks like a real paradise, said Leonidas Koumakis of the International Hellenic Association as reported by Greek City Times.
Of the 55 Turkish series shown in Greece, 18 were shown on ANT1, 17 on the old MEGA until 2018, 7 on ALPHA, 7 on STAR, 5 on SKAI and 1 on EPSILON.
26 of the 55 Turkish series were discontinued without completion either because they were too large in number of episodes and broadcast hours, or because the advertising “interest” was not significant.
Finally, in the last fifteen years, efforts have been made to show in Turkey some well-kept Greek television productions, dubbed in Turkish, but they have not had a substantial impact on the Turkish market.
At a time when Turkish aggression against Greece is manifesting itself in the most insidious forms of hybrid warfare; at a time when an extremist Turkey is humiliating every day the notion of our country’s maritime and air borders; at a time when almost all high-ranking Turkish officials are indulging in unstoppable verbal bullying against us with various silly pretexts; at a time when well-known Turkish “artists” are creating songs with wishes to “send” the coronavirus to Greece; at a time when the neo-Ottoman expansion invades like a modern pirates the Cypriot Economic Exclusion Zone, as well as Syria and Libya, we continue to watch indifferently through the receivers of our television the spiritual castration of the Greek society in order for a few channel masters to make profit, International Hellenic Association said.
However, with ANT1 now cancelling a broadcast, it appears that Turkish series are finally being removed from Greek television.
