Walaa Eid - Istanbul

More than a year and a half has passed since the MBC Group decided to stop showing the Turkish series on its channels. At the same time, the Turkish series "Ertugrul" was still very successful in the Arab and Islamic circles.

On the other hand, Emirati production companies were trying to create a historical series that offends the Ottomans on the one hand, and competes with the Turkish drama that resonated to the world on the other hand, and a few days ago, MBC channels began to show the series "The Kingdoms of Fire" The Mamluk state in Egypt by the Ottomans in the early 16th century.

How do the Turks respond to the series?
Dr. Omar Korkmaz, a senior adviser to the former Turkish prime minister, in his comment on the UAE series of the island Net, that the issue is not only in the attack on Turkey, but the attack on Islam and Islamic history.

Korkmaz explains that there are "countries moving by themselves, and there are countries directed, and since the Turkish series" Ertugrul "has won high fame in the whole world, the UAE wanted to discredit this reputation," adding that "Kingdoms of Fire" "will be historical claims, because the followers of the series They will investigate what is mentioned in it, and eventually discover the falsity of the facts contained in the UAE series. "

As for the Turkish analyst Mustafa Ozjan, believes in his talk to the island Net that the series offends the Turks state and the people, likely to be an official response from the Turkish side to his background.

Offend the Ottomans
Ozgan recalls the strong dissatisfaction expressed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in December 2017, the tweet of UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and considered it offensive to the Ottomans and Turks, and then, Erdogan criticized the tweet that accuses Fakhruddin Pasha, the Ottoman ruler of Medina Between 1916 and 1919 for crimes against its inhabitants and theft of their belongings.

According to the Turkish analyst, "what the UAE is doing is trying to look for gaps in Ottoman history that give it room for counterfeiting, so I don't think the series will go unnoticed without causing a crisis."

The Turkish historian and international relations expert, who preferred to remain anonymous, confirms that the production of this UAE series to falsify Ottoman history is incorrect, he said.

"The authority in the UAE is under the illusion that it can deceive the Arab people with false serials. But we tell them, the People's Library is open to you and has the entire archive of the Ottoman Empire."

"Studies that tell the story of Sultan Selim and many periods, so anyone can refer to it for the full truth."

He continues that one question to ask the author of the series, "What is your reference in the facts that I have listed? We have the most famous historical books about the Ottomans. What is the result of falsifying the facts?".

Competition "Founder Osman"
The series reviews the period of Ottoman sultan Selim I and the battles he fought, as well as major shifts in the history of the region after the battle of Galdiran between the Ottomans and the Safavid state, and even the battle of Marj Dabiq between the Ottomans and the Mamluks.

The timing of the UAE series, which started on November 17, coincides with the show of the Turkish series "Osman the founder", which began on Wednesday (20 November), which may be an attempt to compete with the Turkish historical drama.

According to the Turkish writer Zakaria Kurshin in an article in the Turkish newspaper Yeni فقafak, the timing of the series and his idea indicate that it was produced only to attack Turkey, as happened in the amendments to the curriculum in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which depicts Turkish history in a negative way.

The series is directed by British director Peter Weber in his first work in the Arab region, after he made famous epic films, such as "The Emperor" in 2012 from the days after the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II, and the film "Girl with Pearl Earring" in 2003.

A number of leading Arab artists are also participating in the series, most notably the Egyptian star Khaled Al Nabawi, who plays the role of Toman Bay.The Syrian artist Mahmoud Nasr embodies the character of Sultan Selim I, and Rashid Assaf plays the role of Sultan Mamluk Gansuh al-Ghuri. Kandalaft, Kinda Hanna, Suhair ibn Amara, Rana Shmeis, and Nidal Najm.