Under pressure from the Turkish government, Netflix has canceled a new series before filming had even begun in what critics decry as a new extreme in censorship in the country.

After the success of original Turkish-language series such as “The Protector” and “The Gift,” Netflix Turkey was preparing to film “If Only.” The series was to feature popular actress Ozge Ozpirincci as Reyhan, an unhappily married woman who time travels back in time to the moment her husband proposed to her. 

Yet on July 14, one day before shooting was scheduled to commence, Netflix canceled the project. According to an interview with the show’s creator and screenwriter, Ece Yorenc, Netflix shelved the project after Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council, the state media regulator, objected to a gay side character in the script. Normally in Turkey, unwanted content is censored or banned after a series has been released. 

According to Lara Ozlen, social media expert at the Speak Out Platform, a nongovernmental organization challenging censorship in Turkey, Netflix’s cancellation of “If Only” is an extreme example of the culture of censorship that has long existed in the country.