Muhtesem Yuzyil: Why Prime Minister Erdogan is at War With Turkey's Top Soap Opera

At first glance, the image of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, spending political time and capital to ban the soap opera Muhtesem Yuzyil (The Magnificent Century), a drama depicting life in the imperial court of Suleiman the Magnificent, seems a bit ridiculous. Surely, in a period when the country is dealing with an increase in unemployment, a presidential election in 2014, and a constitutional overhaul, the last thing anyone would be interested in is a soap opera-esque drama about soap operas. But, in the larger scheme of things, there are several larger political takeaways from this drama. Here are six: