MBC to air Turkish series condemned by Israel

The Turkish TV series that caused a diplomatic standoff between Israel and Turkey is set to be aired starting Saturday on MBC1 at 1:00 pm GMT.

Relationships between Turkey and Israel remarkably deteriorated in October 2009 after Turkey’s TRT1 state-sponsored channel aired the prime-time TV series Ayrilik (Farewell). The series depicts fictional Israeli characters killing Palestinian children and abusing elderly Arabs.

The series sheds light of the brutality of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) during the 2008-2009 invasion of the Gaza Strip through a love story that develops between the lead characters.

Several scenes in the series depict the IDF using firearms against unarmed Palestinians whose only weapon is rocks. A soldier is seen kicking the body of a dead Palestinian boy while his mother runs towards him in tears. Another soldier shoots a Palestinian girl who is seen smiling right before she receives a bullet in her.

The opening credits feature several shots of Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip. Tanks destroy everything in their way, soldiers beat civilians, and dead bodies are scattered all over the streets.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman summoned acting Turkish ambassador to Israel Ceylan Ozen and rebuked him for the way the Turkish series portrayed the IDF.

"Broadcasting this series is a serious case of state-sponsored incitement,” said Lieberman. “Such a series, which doesn’t even have a weak connection to reality, and which presents the IDF's soldiers as murderers of innocent children, is unworthy of being broadcast in enemy states, let alone in a country which has full diplomatic relations with Israel.”

According to its official website, the series “brings to life the bleeding wound of Palestine” and explores a “generations-long tragedy” focusing on the women and children of Palestine and promoting love and peace as the only viable solution.

Broadcasting this series is a serious case of state-sponsored incitement

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman

Valley of the Wolves: Ambush

In January 2010, another TV series was met with harsh criticism by Israeli officials and media outlets.

Valley of the Wolves: Ambush, which was aired on Turkish Show TV, depicts the relationship between the state, the mafia, and the business circle. In one of the episodes, Mossad agents inside Turkey kidnap Turkish babies. They are also seen attacking the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv and taking the ambassador and his family hostage.

In this episode, a Mossad agent takes a mother and her child hostage and Turkish police officer frees them by shooting him. The spy’s blood stains the Israeli flag in what many saw as a reference to the latest war on Gaza.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned Turkish ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol and complained that the series was offensive. While cameras were rolling to film the meeting, Ayalon told the crew that he made sure Celikkol sits on a low couch while he sits on a tall chair so he would appear in a higher position.

Turkey threatened to withdraw its ambassador to Israel, which pushed Ayalon to send Celikkol an official letter of apology admitting that he did intend to humiliate him.

Ties between Turkey and Israel started falling apart when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan directed harsh criticism at Operation Cast Lead, launched in the Gaza strip in December 2008- January 2009.

Another crisis occurred when Israel was not allowed to participate in the Anatolian Eagle military exercise, which takes place in Turkey and in which the United States, Italy, and Israel were all supposed to take part.



(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid).

Such a series, which doesn’t even have a weak connection to reality, and which presents the IDF's soldiers as murderers of innocent children, is unworthy of being broadcast in enemy states, let alone in a country which has full diplomatic relations with Israel

Lieberman