This Is How Historical Turkish Drama Affects Muslim Youth; ‘Barbarossa’ the Latest Example

The Turkish drama that has sailed in recent years into the depths of history to monitor the past on the small screen, which encouraged the Turks and Arabs to go for a new reading of history, especially amid the developments in the political situation in the Middle East.

Drama series such as “Resurrection Ertugrul,” “Assim Abdelhamid II,” and most recently, “The Barbarossa Brothers,” narrate historical events punctuated by a lot of pride for the lives of Muslims in previous centuries. It showed that Turkey is setting out to embody a state of soft change in the roots of Turkish and Islamic society indirectly.

Recent years have also witnessed an increasing global demand for Turkish historical series, especially the youth category. Through these series, Turkey aims to revive historical and societal personalities, values, and morals, and work to strengthen the bonds of cohesion among members of Turkish society, according to what observers see.

 

Sword of the Mediterranean

On the evening of Thursday, September 16, 2021, at 8 o’clock Turkey time (5 GMT), the (TRT 1) channel showed the first episode of the series “Barbarossa: Sword of the Mediterranean”, which tells the heroic story of two Ottoman naval commanders, the Barbarossa brothers.

The series that fans of historical Turkish series are eagerly awaiting, which prompted the pioneers of social media to express their enthusiasm hours after watching the first episode. 

The new series is also expected to be a competitor to the series “Resurrection Ertugrul,” which has already achieved worldwide success and fame.

The series “Barbarossa” is a historical series that deals with the life of the famous Ottoman sailor “Hayreddin Barbarossa,” who was nicknamed “The Leader of the Seas” and his brothers, and who were among the most famous naval commanders in the history of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries, during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan “Yavuz Sultan Selim” (Selim I) and his son Sultan “Suleiman the Magnificent.”

The stars Turkish actor “Engin Altan Duzyatan,” known as “Ertugrul,” he will play “Aruj Reis,” the older brother of “Khidir Reis” (Hayreddin Barbarossa), who is embodied by the Turkish actor “Ulas Tuna Astepe,” in addition to their brothers “Isaac” and “Elias.”

“Hayreddin Barbarossa” is the first commander of the Ottoman naval fleet, to this day, he is considered one of the most prominent naval commanders, and one of the symbols that contributed to the steadfastness of the Ottoman Empire. He also established a huge naval arsenal to build ships, the most important of its kind in that period.

The Ottoman sailor Barbarossa repulsed the Spanish attack on Algeria between 1516 and 1517.

He saved thousands of Muslims in his battles, the largest of which was the battle he fought against the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian armies and the ships of Saint John, that was when “Sultan Selim I” asked him to save the Muslims from the Spanish Inquisition.

Indeed, in 1529, he defeated them, and transferred 70,000 Andalusian Muslims to Algeria, where they were secured and settled.

The Ottoman naval power under the command of Barbarossa increased exponentially, and he was able to expand the area of ​​Ottoman influence over the entire waters of the Mediterranean and on the European coasts.

As well as the annexation of Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya to the Ottoman lands during the period of his leadership of the Ottoman fleet.

 

Ottoman Empire

The series “Resurrection Ertugrul” formed during the past five years a local and international event, after it was watched by nearly 3 billion people in 71 countries to which it was exported, it was broadcast on the screens of many countries, after it was dubbed into 25 languages, including Arabic and English.

The famous actor “Engin Altan Duzyatan” embodied the lead role in the series “Resurrection Ertugrul” for the five seasons, it takes place in the 12th century, it presents the biography of the hero “Ertugrul bin Suleiman Shah”, the leader of the “KAYI” tribe, and he is from the Muslim Oghuz Turks (Turkmen).

The historical series continues in a new season with the series “The Founder Othman,” which deals with the life of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, “Osman I” (1258 - 1326), and he is one of the sons of “Ertugrul”.

The series “The Founder Osman” is a continuation of the series “Resurrection Ertugrul,” which continued to present the story of the “KAYI” tribes and their migrations up to the foundation of the Ottoman Empire in the 13th century, which ruled the Balkans, Anatolia, the Arab Mashreq, and North Africa for 600 years until its term expired with the declaration of the Turkish Republic in 1922.

The famous actor “Burak Ozcivit” embodied the lead role in the series “The Founder Othman,” which was shown in October of last year.

It is noteworthy that Turkey is the second country in the world, after the United States, among the countries classified as the most exporters of series, to about 156 countries, with an export volume of nearly $350 million, according to the Turkish “Anadolu Agency”.

In addition to supporting the Turkish economy through people from all over the world buying and gifting historical war clothes and tools made in Turkey, which has greatly increased due to the historical Turkish drama, which has received a lot of follow-up and attention.

 

Turkey's Soft Power

Observers described Turkey's historical drama as the soft power of Turkish politics. It has also been linked to the rise of Turkey's political role in the Middle East.

In addition to the fact that the historical drama coincides with a general trend in Turkey, it is working on creating a new identity for the country, which is based on the re-invocation of the Islamic dimension and historical heritage, as an essential component of Turkish nationalism, this is as a counter-vision to secular nationalist perceptions.

Where Turkish historical series focus on Ottoman history, it aims, directly or indirectly, to reconcile the Turkish people with their Ottoman past. After attaching the idea of ​​obscurantism and reaction to that long phase of the history of Anatolia and the region, during the foundation of the Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate.

“Abdul Aziz al-Muhammad,” (38 years), residing in Turkey, and familiar with ancient and contemporary Islamic history, explained in a statement to “Al-Estiklal” that: “Turkish historical series is the material that he can definitely advise his family and friends to watch, without fear of embarrassing scenes.”

“They are targeted series, and their stories contain Islamic tournaments. It greatly helps young people to know the heroes of the Islamic world. Also, learn about the life stories of these heroes, and how they were able to support Islam,” Al-Muhammad adds.

He points out that “the Turkish historical drama adopted the nation's issues, and highlighted a bright picture of the Turkish present and Ottoman history, and they had a great role in enhancing the status of the Turks, thanks to their exciting events and stories filled with messages about Muslims and their values ​​and principles.”

“Also, historical series operas motivate Muslim youth to research history, and access to a variety of information about the personalities that were mentioned,” according to him.

Dr. Mohamed Eskandar Shah Mohd, Vice President of the University of International Islamic Finance Malaysia, in a statement to the Turkish “Anadolu Agency” on October 30, 2019, he said: “Turkish historical series operas remind us of the values ​​that Muslims must adopt in our time.”

The Malaysian academic continued, saying: “The series Resurrection Ertugrul deals more with Turkish history, it tells us how great civilizations arise, but at the same time it talks about me as a Muslim.”

He added that “since the story of the series reflects the situation of Muslims today, it gives us hope, and teaches us that it is possible to achieve the achievements and successes which we achieved in the past.”