shows have aired in more than 150 countries.

The expansion also appears to benefit others in the business community. Sekib Avdagic, the head of the Istanbul Trade Chamber, said TV series marketed overseas are stoking demand for other Turkish products as well. “We are happy to see that Turkish productions are gluing millions of people to the screens of their TV sets, smartphones and computers in many countries, from Sweden and Costa Rica to China and Spain. With the ground already laid by the series, it becomes very easy for our entrepreneurs to enter the markets of those countries,” Avdagic said. Fragrances named after Turkish soap-opera stars have broken sales records in the Middle East, he noted, adding that the TV series had helped attract more Middle Eastern touriststo Turkey and fanned interest in Turkish-language courses in countries such as Egypt, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Greece.

Also, Turkish furniture makers have boosted exports to countries where Turkish soap-operas enjoy high popularity, such as the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Oman and Kuwait.

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According to Izzet Pinto, the owner of Global Agency, a leading soap-opera exporter, Turkish actors have become so popular in the Middle East, the Balkans and South America that Turkish TV series are now being sold at much higher prices than those of American ones to those regions.

While their international audience expands, the TV series are under fire at home for absolving violence from the “bad morals” category.

For Ismail Gunes, a former chair of the Professional Association of Cinematographic Authors, the scale