Smitten by the hugely popular Turkish soap operas, a Saudi farm lady sold the entire herd of her livestock to avoid distractions while the shows were on. The old lady said she could not watch the TV series with concentration because in between she had to milk the sheep and attend to them. So she decided to sell the livestock. The mania for “Noor” and “Sanawat Ad-Daya'a” gripped the Saudi homes so much so that Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Aal Al-Sheikh termed them as “evil” and “un-Islamic.” In Saudi Arabia, between three million to four million viewers watch the soap every evening, according to figures issued by Middle East Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). The private entertainment satellite channel MBC started airing the show four months ago dubbed into the Syrian Arabic vernacular. “Noor,” which flopped when first broadcast in its native Turkey three years ago, became an instant hit in Saudi Arabia partly because of its unconventional usage of colloquial Arabic dubbing. Yet the main pull has been the co-star Muhannad, 24-year-old Turkish actor and model Kivanc Tatlitu. Now Turkey is expecting the number of Saudi tourists this year to top 100,000. “From 41,000 (tourists) last year to 100,000 this year – the same year this show became phenomenally successful,” a Turkish diplomat Yasin Temizkayn was quoted as saying. “It's more than just a coincidence.” The drama, which made poor ratings when first shown in Turkey in 2005, centers around a family whose patriarch strives to ensure his sons focus on the family business and maintain cohesion without straying into romantic temptation. – Okaz/Agencies __
