Macedonia bans Turkish soap operas

ISTANBUL

Hürriyet photo

Macedonia is currently passing a bill to restrict broadcasts of Turkish TV series during the day and at prime time in order to reduce the Turkish impact on Macedonian society, daily Habertürk has reported.

"Our own programs have started being broadcast after midnight because of Turkish soap operas. On every channel I see a Turkish soap opera like 'Muhteşem Yüzyıl' [The Magnificent Century], 'Ezel,' or 'Binbir Gece' [A Thousand and One Nights]. They're all fascinating, but to stay under Turkish servitude for 500 years is enough," Information and Society Minister Ivo Ivanovski said.

Turkish series will gradually be removed and replaced by national programs, according to the new bill.