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The Master’s Saga: Erdogan’s Documentary

A documentary dedicated to the life of Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan reveals the fault lines in Turkish politics and society.
A woman listens to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's speech during his rally in Ankara June 15, 2013. Erdogan warned protesters occupying a central Istanbul park that they should leave before a ruling party rally on Sunday or face eviction by the security forces. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTX10OUO
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While many politicians write biographies prior to running for office and after their term is over, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan already has had a documentary made about him. Teasers and full-page newspaper ads were released about the documentary for weeks. On the evening of Sept. 3, the documentary aired on Beyaz TV, a channel that belongs to Osman Gokcek, son of Ankara's mayor. Serving his fourth term, Ankara's mayor is a longtime notable member of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Just this fact was sufficient to initiate rumors that this was the mayor’s way to get into good graces with the “master” for the upcoming elections. 

Prior to the airing of the show, social media was already divided into two sparring hashtags. Those who support Erdogan were tweeting with the name of the documentary — #ustaninhikayesi (saga of the master). The documentary has a web page  and even its own Twitter account. The opponents, not that professionally organized, were ending their tweets with #ustaneayol (what does usta mean really?) — brushing off the show. During the show, Erdogan’s adviser team was active on Twitter. One adviser, Cemalettin Hasimi, tweeted with confidence: “The story of a leader’s life has been told several times, but is now being watched as if it was the first time. That is the heart of the matter. #ustaninhikayesi.” Surprisingly, Hasimi was wrong. The documentary was only watched by a small number of viewers. Given the media hype, it was surprising to see that it did not make it into the top 100 rating list for the evening.

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