Erdogan, Gul and the magnificent Sultan

Promotional image for Magnificent Century, copyright TIMS TV

Take a harem-hopping Sultan, add the most intriguing contest in Turkish politics, stir in a measure of concern about authoritarianism, and you come up with one of the hottest discussion topics in Ankara and Istanbul today.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, and Abdullah Gul, the country’s president, have clashed over a popular Ottoman-themed soap opera that Mr Erdogan thinks is too sexed up. The subject may appear to be trivial – although the 150m foreign and domestic viewers of the series, Magnificent Century, would beg to disagree.
But it is only the latest front in a series of disagreements between the two heavyweights of Turkish politics as the country gears up for an unprecedented transition, with Mr Erdogan eyeing up Mr Gul’s job and Mr Gul possibly considering Mr Erdogan’s. Nor is the issue at hand entirely lightweight, since government opponents have been quick to link Mr Erdogan’s criticism of the soap with what they say is his increasingly intolerant approach to public life.
The affair began when Mr Erdogan objected to the series’ focus on harem intrigues, rather than on Ottoman conquests, and in particular to its treatment of the fabled Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, who reached the gates of Vienna. “That is not the Suleyman we know… he spent 30 years on horseback,” the prime minister said. Adding that he condemned both the programme’s producers and the television station’s owners – an apparent reference to Ferit Sahenk, one of Turkey’s richest men – Mr Erdogan continued: “We have alerted the judicial authorities on this and we are waiting for a decision… Those who toy with these values should be taught a lesson within the framework of law.”
The series has indeed generated record numbers of complaints but negative headlines about a latter-day Sultan predictably followed Mr Erdogan’s intervention. In another move that sparked criticism this week Mr Erdogan took steps to lift immunity for Kurdish members of parliament, which could lead to their conviction and imprisonment.
Mr Gul replied on both fronts – the Ottoman and the Kurdish – indicating his preference for a less heavy-handed approach than Mr Erdogan’s.
Speaking at a cultural awards ceremony on Thursday, the president enthused about popular interest in history, particularly the Ottoman era. “The fact that historical events or people are being dealt with in movies or TV series is a welcome development, ” he said.
If that wasn’t enough to highlight the contrast with Mr Erdogan, Mr Gul also emphasised his opposition to removing the immunity of the Kurdish deputies, who outraged much of Turkish public opinon when they exchanged hugs with members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers party, or PKK, this year.
“Turkey should beware of heading down a dead-end street and repeating past mistakes,” the president said, referring to the arrest of Kurdish MPs in the 1990s.
The country still has some way to go before it holds its first direct Presidential elections in 2014. But the skirmishing between Mr Erdogan and Mr Gul, old party colleagues though they are, looks like it has begun in earnest.