Amid India-Pakistan tensions, ZEE5 removes Turkish shows: Report
What's the story
In a major change, Indian OTT platforms are heavily contemplating removing Turkish dramas from their libraries.
The decision comes after Turkey publicly supported Pakistan during the recent escalations between India and Pakistan after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in April.
ZEE5 has already removed a number of Turkish shows, and other streaming services may soon follow suit, reported Mid-Day.
Dramas removed
Popular Turkish dramas pulled from Indian platforms
Turkish dramas such as Ertugrul, Feriha, and Masum are popular in India.
But after the latest developments, Indian platforms began selectively removing some shows.
ZEE5 pulled Relationship Status: It's Complicated and some other Turkish series last week.
An insider said, "We've been monitoring the sentiment for weeks. While there is no government directive, we made business decision to avoid potential backlash."
"These titles were doing well in tier-1 and -2 cities, but the risk of reputational damage outweighed the benefits."
Potential removals
Other platforms might follow suit: Reports
Popular platform MX Player, which hosts a massive library of Turkish dramas, may also be considering the same.
The content team has received an internal note advising them to pause new acquisitions of Turkish shows.
An insider said, "We haven't received any formal instructions or advisory from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. As of now, no content has been removed, but we have paused new acquisitions from Turkish production houses."
Channel watch
YouTube channels streaming Turkish series under scrutiny
The report adds that YouTube channels streaming Turkish series are under closer watch.
For example, Live Pakistan, a channel famous for airing Resurrection: Ertugrul, has been blocked in India since Friday afternoon.
A source from the channel told Mid-Day, "We received three takedown requests in the past two days. It felt coordinated. If this escalates, more channels could disappear overnight from India."
Responses
No official ban yet, but film industry plans boycott
While there's no official government directive banning Turkish dramas, some Indian universities have cut ties with Turkish institutions.
The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) recently urged filmmakers to avoid Turkey for shoots.
Similarly, the All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) has officially announced a boycott of Turkey for all film shoots and cultural collaborations.