Turkey’s public broadcaster takes MİT drama off air after ISIL warning
Turkey’s public broadcaster TRT has stopped airing a drama about the country’s intelligence organization following threats from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that alarmed the Turkish police, daily Milliyet reported July 21.
Directed by popular director Osman Sınav, Kızıl Elma (Red Apple) was one of Turkey's most ambitious dramas when TRT began airing it in January.
In an interview at the time, Sınav linked the show to Turkey's regional policy ambitions. “In this region, there is a conflict is between intelligence services. Turkey is now a country with aims and objectives. It will be these aims and objectives that will bring Turkey to its place,” he said.
The show revolved around a young protagonist named "Murat Altay" who is a member of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT), and tells stories related to Syria, Iran, Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan.
However, the show has been abruptly taken off air, and its last episode was broadcast on May 21.
Milliyet reported that the show was taken off air after a memo circulated within Turkey’s General Directorate of Security. The memo, dated April 28, reportedly warned all police units that threats had been directed at Turkey on “open sources,” claiming that ISIL was being “represented in the drama as a man slaughtering, terrorizing gang.” The threatening messages also noted that the show was “humiliating" ISIL and complained that Islamic NGOs in Turkey had not reacted against this.
The show was taken off air three weeks after the security warning was issued and three weeks before the ISIL raid on Turkey’s Mosul consulate, which led to the abduction of 49 Turkish citizens, who are still being held by the militant group.
Turkey’s public broadcaster takes MİT drama off air after ISIL warning - LOCAL