Soap opera

He played the wealthy patriarch John Abbott for more than three decades on the CBS soap opera

Under former prime minister Ahmet Davutaglu, Turkish foreign policy shifted towards its current "zero problems with neighbours" policy, and to win-win policies that allow Ankara to spread its influence politically, economically and culturally.

The boom in Turkish soap operas throughout the Balkans during this time provides a good example of this influence.

For some American viewers, Turkish soap operas are so catchy that they have put Hollywood movies aside.

Turkish soap operas, which are screened in many countries from Venezuela to Pakistan, are now expanding popularity in the Arab world with more and more binge-watching Palestinian families. Click through for the story in photos...

The saga over the Skouries gold mine project in the northern Greek region of Halkidiki, which is backed by Canadian gold-mining company Eldorado and has been dogged by controversy and setbacks for years now, reads like a bad soap opera.

Turkish heartthrob Burak Hakki, who was a huge hit in Turkish soap-opera dramas aired on Greek TV, apart from finding work in Greece and a theatrical play called “Cycle”, has also found love it seems. The 45-year-old actor has fallen for a Greek beauty by the name of Chara Pappa. The sexy brunette is an economics student in Thessaloniki and does modeling on a part time basis.

The story in our newspaper recently stated that a recent survey about the lifestyle and attitudes of Turkish people had revealed "intriguing results." The poll was conducted by the Ipsos KMG Research and Consultancy Company based on interviews with almost 16,000 people across Turkey, titled ?Guide to Understanding Turkey.?

Here are some of the ?intriguing? results:

The tortured romance between Şehrazat and Onur, the central drama of Turkish soap opera "Thousand and One Nights," is taking Chilean television by storm and reshaping prime time in Latin America, the land of the "telenovela."