Payitaht: Abdülhamid

Payitaht "Abdülhamid"
Capital "Abdülhamid"
Written by Osman Bodur and Uğur Uzunok
Directed by Serdar Akar
Starring Bülent İnal and Özlem Conker
Country of origin Turkey
Original language(s) Turkish
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 55 (on October 5, 2018)
Production
Producer(s) ES Film
Production location(s) Turkey
Running time 150 min.
Release
Original network TRT 1
TRT HD
Picture format 576i (16:9 SDTV )
1080i ( HDTV )
Audio format Stereo
Original release 2017
External links
Website

Payitaht: "Abdülhamid", named The Last Emperor in English, is a Turkish historical television drama series starring Bulent Inal and Ozlem Conker depicting historical events during the reign of the 34th Ottoman Sultan, Abdul Hamid II.[1][2]

Controversy

According to staff members of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the series promotes an antidemocratic and conspiratorial worldview, mirroring that of Turkish President Erdoğan.[3] The Washington Times noted that the series "promotes a worldview uncannily similar to that of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: A free press, secularism and democracy are the work of foreign powers, religious minorities and godless liberals, and ultimately serve to erode national identity, honor and security. Of all the series’ villains, none are more sinister than the Jews."[3]

Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism is the series' "arch-villain", who is a man so perfidious as to hold his penniless father prisoner without his mother's knowledge because of alleged ideological differences. The show depicts him at the First Zionist Congress, portrayed to evoke the Elders of Zion, planning to create a Jewish state spanning from the Nile to Euphrates,[3] which is a popular theory. Meanwhile, the coin-flipper for the Sultan is portrayed as a secret Vatican agent allegedly working on behalf of Herzl,[3] even though the Vatican opposed the establishment of Israel. The Washington Times noted that this portrayal was "revisionist in the extreme" even though the show reports itself to be "inspired by real historical events".[3]

The anti-Westernism present in the show's message has also been remarked upon,[3] as the production portrays "Jewish conspiracies" as melding together with the nefarious plots of the Catholic Church, Freemasonry, Britain as well as other Western powers, and the Young Turks into "one overarching scheme".[3] The Vatican emissary is named "Hiram", a name that is associated with Freemasonry.[3]

Political endorsements in Turkey

The Washington Times noted that various actors in Turkey's political scene seemed to explicitly endorse the messages present in the show.[3]

In Turkey, the show has met the approval of a descendant of Abdulhamid, who said "history repeats itself … these meddling foreigners now call our president a dictator, just as they used to call Abdulhamid the ‘Red Sultan’".[3][4]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised the show's portrayals just two days before a referendum,[3] saying "the same schemes are carried out today in the exact same manner … What the West does to us is the same; just the era and actors are different".[3][5] Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus lauded the show for "shedding light" on Sultan Abdulhamid's life in "an objective manner", and gave a personal visit to the set.[3][6] Aykan Erdemir and Oren Kessler, writing for the Washington Times, noted that Abdulhamid frequently used the same Koranic-inspired catchphrases as President Erdogan, notably including "If they have a plan, God too has a plan!".[3]

The Balkans

Although Turkish soap operas are wildly popular in the Balkans, Payitaht: Abdülhamid has caused some controversy in places such as Kosovo due to its message and historical revisionism.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Payitaht "Abdülhamid" cuma günü başlıyor" (in Turkish). Haberturk. 18 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  2. ↑ "Sultan Abdülhamid's era depicted in new TV series". Daily Sabah. Anadolu Agency. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Aykan Erdemir and Oren Kessler (15 May 2017). "A Turkish TV blockbuster reveals Erdogan's conspiratorial, anti-semitic worldview". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  4. ↑ "Şehzade Orhan Osmanoğlu: O benim dedem değil!". Turkiye Haber Merkezi. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  5. ↑ "Erdogan degerlendirdi: Dirilis mi, Payitaht mi?". Yeni Akit. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "Numan Kurtulmuş, Payitaht Abdülhamid setinde". Sabah. February 15, 2017. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Turkish Series About Sultan Causes Concern in Kosovo". Balkan Insight. March 9, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
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