Saudi-owned private broadcaster pulls the plug on Turkish dramas

The Arab world’s largest private broadcaster has stopped showing Turkish television programmes, it said on Monday, as tensions rise between Ankara and some Arab states.

Turkish soap operas, in particular, are a big hit across the Middle East but the decision to pull the plug came into effect at Dubai-based MBC Group – which is controlled by Saudi businessman Walid al-Ibrahim and other Saudi investors – on March 2, a company spokesman said.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates see Turkey’s ruling AK Party, co-founded by President Tayyip Erdogan, as a friend of Islamist forces which both Arab countries oppose across the region.

Following Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s “anti-corruption” purge which began in November last year and saw hundreds of senior officials and princes arrested, it has been reported that MBC’s ownership has changed. In order to guarantee his release Al-Ibrahimi is said to have signed away 60 per cent of his company to the state.

#QatarGate

Relations were further strained by Ankara’s support for Qatar after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed sanctions on Doha last year over its alleged support for Islamist militants. Qatar denies the accusations.

Read: Qatar-Turkey trade grows by 30 per cent since Gulf crisis

Some Arab commentators have also been campaigning on social media against what they see as Turkish cultural influence being broadcast into Arab homes through TV shows, often dubbed into Arabic.

However, it also opened opportunities for programme-makers in countries such as Qatar and Lebanon to fill the gap.