ISTANBUL, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkish soap operas, exported to around 170 countries in 2023, are now poised to penetrate the Chinese market, according to sector insiders.

Izzet Pinto, the CEO of the Global Agency, a Turkish TV content distributor, has highlighted the allure of the Chinese market as a prestigious destination for Turkish TV series to establish their presence.

In an interview with Xinhua on Wednesday, he expressed confidence that the Chinese audience would embrace Turkish series for their family-friendly narratives.

"Turkish TV series do not include any serious violent or obscene scenes," he said. "Indeed, this is likely why they are often aired in primetime slots across numerous countries and attract millions of viewers."

In 2023, the export revenue of Turkish TV series reached 680 million U.S. dollars, and the 2024 target is 800 million dollars, said Pinto.

Turkish industry representatives have already started to promote TV serials in China, actively participating in industry fairs to connect with Chinese buyers.

Last week, Fatih Aksoy, the head of the Entertainment and Culture Service Committee of the Service Exporters' Association, told reporters that approximately 60-70 TV series are produced each year in Türkiye.

Especially those with narratives focusing on the stories of female characters achieve significant global success, Aksoy said.

"The next objective for our TV series is to penetrate the Chinese market, and we are confident that they will achieve success there as well," Aksoy noted, echoing Pinto.

Foreign viewers of Turkish television dramas frequently express a wish to visit Türkiye and explore the locations where these series were filmed, according to Mehmet Bozdag, a producer and screenwriter.

In response to this interest, Bozdag Film Plateaus in Istanbul, the setting where renowned Turkish TV series were filmed, was opened to visitors in June last year, and has hosted more than 50,000 tourists.

Bozdag told the state-run Anadolu agency that to attract potential Chinese viewers, it is striving to showcase the country and its culture, with an aim to welcome 1 million visitors in the coming years.

Citing research by Parrot Analytics, a data firm, the NTV broadcaster said that global demand for Turkish TV series increased by 184 percent between 2020 and 2023, with a growing interest in the Middle East, Europe and Latin America. Enditem

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