Producer of TV drama that irked Erdoğan among those detained in police raids
ISTANBUL
'These people are so immoral that they could put our Prophet in a truck [depicted as a beam of light],' Erdoğan said last year, excoriating a controversial TV drama aired by a Gülen-affiliated station.
The producer of a television drama that drew the ire of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was among scores of media figures detained in a police raid on Dec. 14.Police took Salih Asan into custody in his home in the western Turkish province of Eskişehir early morning.
The popular drama's director Engin Koç was also detained in Eskişehir.
Meanwhile, Makbule Çam Alemdağ, scriptwriter of another Samanyolu drama named "Tek Türkiye," and her assistant Elif Yılmaz were detained in the eastern province of Van.
Beside "Sungurlar," Salih Asan was the producer of "Tek Türkiye," as well as a more controversial drama called "Şefkat Tepe."
“Şefkat Tepe” (literally translated as Affection Hill) had depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a beam of light in a scene aired in January, prompting the Konya Governor’s Office to cancel permission to shoot in the Central Anatolian province and triggering an avalanche of "blasphemy" allegations in the pro-government media.
The rift between the government and the Gülen Movement has turned into an open conflict since the corruption probes opened in December 2013, with then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accusing the Islamic scholar of orchestrating the operations through his followers in the police and the judiciary.
The increasingly tense relations between two Islam-inspired movements, which were once allies, had hit climax recently with both sides declaring each other "un-Islamic" via their affiliated media, including newspapers and television dramas.
Erdoğan, who slammed Gülen as a "false prophet," had also criticized the controversial scene in the popular drama. "These people are so immoral that they could put our Prophet in a truck [depicted as a beam of light]. Our nation will never allow them, they will never give them a chance," he had said late last year during a rally in Istanbul.
"Şefkat Tepe" is an action drama based on a story revolving around a fictional military unit in Turkey. Led by an army captain named Serdar Mert, the unit is called "Sungurlar" – hence the spin-off that is still on air – and conducts military operations in Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
"Şefkat Tepe" is an action drama based on a story revolving around a fictional military unit in Turkey. Led by an army captain named Serdar Mert, the unit is called "Sungurlar" – hence the spin-off that is still on air – and conducts military operations in Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
