Geopolitics and soap operas, Turkish films deepen Russia's demographic crisis

The Russian Veterans' Organization has called on Russian authorities to ban Turkish soap operas, arguing that they create an idealized image of men, which affects Russian women's perception of their compatriots and contributes to the demographic crisis.

The organization's director, Ildar Reziapov, a Kremlin loyalist, said: "These soap operas create an idealized image of men, which negatively influences the perception of Russian men. Russian women are losing interest in their compatriots and are traveling to Turkey, which has already led to many tragedies."

• Parliamentarians react - but for different reasons

The veterans' petition was submitted to the Ministry of Culture, Roskomnadzor (the Russian federal agency responsible for monitoring, controlling and censoring mass media) and Parliament, and some deputies supported banning Turkish series - but not because of the impact on the image of Russian men. Deputy Vitaly Milonov criticized the soap operas for presenting a "romanticized" version of the history of the Ottoman Empire, instead of showing the "reality" with violence and death. On the other hand, deputy Sardana Avksentieva, from the New People party, proposed a less radical alternative: "Produce series in which Russian men are more beautiful than Turkish men."

• Turkish soap operas - a successful phenomenon in Russia

As in many other countries, Turkish series are enormously successful in Russia, being widely watched on streaming platforms. One of the most popular productions is "Love is in the Air", which attracts millions of viewers.

So far, the Russian authorities have not made an official decision on banning Turkish soap operas.