Turks switch on to TV series with China focus

An entrepreneur and his team in Turkey's largest city Istanbul have been introducing Chinese culture and lifestyle to the locals by offering Chinese TV series through a dedicated You-Tube channel.

"We believe that we will better explain the social structure of China and the Chinese way of life, including what they eat and drink, to Turkish people, through visual sources," says Muhammet Demirel, 24, director of Demirel Group.

In his view, Chinese and Turkish people have many things in common, but none of them has so far precisely introduced themselves to each other. "But, once Turks, especially the younger generation, discover China and Chinese culture through novels, movies and dramas, they will also discover how the two societies are close to each other," he says.

After receiving the copyright for about 100 Chinese TV series, the company launched its YouTube channel, Clickia TV, in mid-June and received more than 3,000 hits in the first four days.

Demirel first started by translating Chinese novels into Turkish and publishing them online with a team of 15 people about four years ago. As people prefer watching to reading, they diverted their focus toward visual sources, like movies, and series about China.

Now, a team of 35 people, including translators and writers, have been working to keep the online channel updated, posting new episodes regularly.

They have also been working to launch a paid mobile application service and a new website in July, which will provide visual materials related to China.

The new online portal has attracted young viewers like Deniz Iscan, a high school senior student, whose interest in Asian culture began two years ago, and who used the platform to watch her favorite Chinese dramas.

Watching Chinese TV series or movies from a mobile application with Turkish subtitles is an opportunity for the younger generation in Turkey, Iscan says, adding that the channel can "fill a big gap for people of my age who are eager to learn more about China".

"I was first fascinated by Chinese food culture and began to search some sources related to China, but, sadly, the sources in Turkey were very limited," says Iscan, who then went to learn Chinese language at the Confucius Institute at Istanbul-based Bogazici University to read books by Chinese authors and watch Chinese movies and dramas.