Bulgaria Crazy Over Turkish Soap Operas

Bulgarian National Radio reported that a total of 27 Turkish soap operas have been bought by Bulgaria, including Binbir Gece, Yaprak Dokumu, Dudaktan Kalbe and Gumus, which had a very high rating at the time of their airing.

According to Abdurrahman Celik, Turkey's copyrights and cinema director general, the TV series that are aired abroad have enabled foreigners to get acquainted with Turkey's people, their lifestyle and traditions.

"In the last years, state institutions realised this, decided to support this sector and they achieved great results," he said.

So far, Turkey has sold 70 soap operas to 39 countries in the Balkans, the Caucasus region and the Middle East.

Kazakhstan has bought the greaters number of Turkish soaps – 42, followed by Bulgaria with 27, Azerbaijan with 23, Macedonia with 17, and Greece with 8.

Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, meanwhile, have not shown much interest in the Turkish shows.

According to representatives of the TV sector, the prices of the Turkish series have increased. One episode can cost from $500 to $20,000, depending on the title, year of production, and other factors.

The sale of TV series abroad has also positively affected the tourism industry in Turkey. Agencies have started to offer attractive tours to the sets of the soap operas, which sometimes also include meeting the cast.