A new omnibus bill heading to the parliament floor this week proposes a 2 percent levy on digital streaming platforms to generate a financial lifeline for the country’s struggling cinema industry.
The proposed legislation requires pay-media services to transfer a fraction of their annual net sales directly to the Culture and Tourism Ministry. Official data reveals the measure will generate 417.1 million Turkish Liras annually,
while a concurrent regulation on cultural assets is expected to bring in another 635 million liras in 2026.
Audiences have largely abandoned theaters in recent years, driving the sector into a deep crisis. Ticket sales plummeted from a pre-pandemic peak of 77 million down to 29.7 million in 2025,
devastating local production capabilities as filmmakers flee the silver screen to avoid financial ruin.
“Cinema is in a really difficult situation; it is in intensive care,” Cinema General Manager Birol Güven said during a parliamentary committee hearing.
Meanwhile, state subsidies for the industry lag far behind European competitors. The government allocated just five million euros to support domestic filmmaking in 2023, while France pumped 720 million euros and Greece injected 79 million euros into their respective markets.
This stark funding gap has severely weakened local box office dominance, dragging the market share of Turkish films from 60 percent down to 40 percent against foreign releases.
Funneling the new platform tax directly into the ministry’s enterprise account rather than the general budget will allow authorities to deploy the funds by 2027 instead of waiting for another year. Average ticket prices currently stand at 250 liras for international releases and 212 liras for domestic features.
“I do not think cinema has that much time left,” Güven said.
