TV series Magnificient Century sued for depicting Safavis as Persian

ISTANBUL

Hürriyet Photo

An Azeri man has filed a complaint against popular TV series “Muhteşem Yüzyıl” (The Magnificent Century) for its depiction of Safavis as Persian.

Mahboub Amrahy, a dentist working at Ankara’s Hacettepe University Hospital, filed a complaint against the series on the grounds that it depicted Safavis as Persians, according to daily Cumhuriyet.

“In the 115th episode of the series, the Safavis are depicted as a Persian state, thus insulting and denying my history and people. I am a Turkish-origin Azeri from Iran and I am filing complaint against the series,” Amrahy added, in the complaint submitted to the Ankara Public Prosecutor’s office.

The prosecutor accepted the complaint, but it is not clear whether the complaint will be sent to Istanbul, where the firm that shoots the series is located.

Veteran historian Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı said the Safavi state was both Azeri and Turk, adding that the founder of the Safavi dynasty, Shah İsmail, wrote poems in Turkish. “There is no problem with saying that the Safavi state’s name is Iranian, but if you say its Persian then this is wrong,” Ortaylı said, criticizing the series makers for not consulting historians.

Historian Prof. İbrahim Ethem Atnur said the Safavi was a state founded by the “Kızılbaş” (Crimson/Red Heads) Turkmens, adding that it was not a Persian state. “If a state was founded in the lands where Iran is located today, people think it was Persian,” Atnur said.