In an unexpected plot twist for Turkey’s sizzling TV soap opera industry, the government has pledged financial support of up to $100,000 per episode of “exportable” series.

Widely hailed as “binge-worthy” and “world-beating”, the soap, known as dizi, is shown in as many as 170 countries. However, Turkey’s murderous inflation has appeared on the scene, driving up TV production costs to levels that threaten to hollow out the export success story.

A February 11 Financial Times report brought home the dizi industry’s woes.

The UK daily quoted one European media executive as saying: “Turkish television is the most incredible, efficient and beautiful machine. The rise in costs means that the secret sauce of Turkish TV production is under threat.”

Ministers, unsettled at the prospect of losing the soft power and export receipts of acclaimed shows such as Magnificent Century, about the 16th-century Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, or Veliaht, a saga of crime, romance and family that follows the fate of the imposter heir of a lucrative bus concession, have acted.

The money on offer will be paid in Turkish lira, but could still be a real shot in the arm for many dizi producers. Pointing to how the TV dramas showcase Turkey and the Turkish language to international audiences, culture and tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced the financial backing at a press conference, as reported by AFP on February 19.

Ersoy was reported as saying that Turkish series have become a "global brand that touches the lives of nearly one billion people across approximately 170 countries, spanning a vast geography from Asia to America, and from Africa to Europe."

"Currently, Türkiye as become one of the world's top three television industries in terms of sales and export power," he also said, adding: "With export revenues exceeding one billion dollars, our sector has recently surpassed a historic threshold."

Ersoy also stated that his ministry would help facilitate the production of dramas by accelerating progress through bureaucratic procedures related to filming locations and providing the use of historical and cultural sites free of charge.