Charges against 'Muhteşem Yüzyıl' actors and directors dismissed

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

‘The Magnificent Century’ has been freed of charges for insulting Kanuni.

The Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office has dismissed charges against Yağmur and Durul Taylan, the directors of popular TV series “Muhteşem Yüzyıl” (The Magnificent Century), and two of its leading cast members on charges that they had insulted the memory of Süleyman the Magnificent.

Ömer Faruk Bildirici and İnci Bildirici had claimed that the two lead characters Halit Ergenç and Meryem Uzerli, in the TV series insulted Ottoman history by portraying events that had never occurred and alleged that the sultan was misrepresented to society and shown in a negative light. They filed a lawsuit against the directors and two actors of the TV series, calling for it to be banned.

The Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office reported that only close relatives, spouses or siblings could file a complaint concerning the offense of libel being committed against a person who is no longer alive. The prosecutor’s office said that although the TV series was inspired by historical reality, the events contained in the script were fictional.