Ottoman cartoon series to be aired on Turkish state TV

ISTANBUL

The Magnificent Century. Hürriyet Photo

A cartoon series that tells the stories of Ottoman sultans is being prepared by Turkish state television (TRT) and will be aired soon, according to the channel’s general manager, İbrahim Şahin, Anatolian news agency has reported.

The series will reportedly include all sultans, from the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman Gazi, to the last one in the 1920s, with the aim of teaching history “correctly” to elementary school students.

Nine episodes have so far been completed, and TRT Çocuk (TRT’s children’s channel) will broadcast the series when the project is completed, Şahin said.

Turkey’s entertainment and political sectors have recently witnessed a row over “The Magnificent Century” (Muhteşem Yüzyıl), a fictionalized account of Süleyman the Magnificent’s reign, with ruling party officials vowing to remove the popular show from the air for allegedly misrepresenting the sultan’s life story.