
CREATING THE MYTH OF “FOREIGN THREATS” IN TURKISH STATE-SPONSORED TV SERIES
For a decade, TRT (Turkish state broadcaster) has been increasingly producing TV series about Ottoman history. One of the most popular historical drama is "Payitaht: Abdülhamid," which focuses on the final decade of Sultan Abdülhamid II's reign (r.1876-1909). TV series portrayed the sultan as an ideal and just ruler and striving to defend the interests of the Ottoman Empire against domestic and foreign threats as a matter of survival. The drama's plot develops as the Sultan