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ANKARA: A new Turkish blockbuster glorifying the 15th-century Ottoman conquest of Constantinople has taken Turkey by storm at a time when the government is flexing its muscles as a new regional strongman.
“Fetih 1453” — or Conquest 1453 — has drawn record crowds since it opened on February 16, recounting what is upheld as one of the most glorious moments in the nation's history.
The buzz has left few indifferent, tapping Turkish pride but also fuelling a debate that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government is aiming to make Turkey, as in Ottoman times, the most powerful state in the area.
The film is hailed as a milestone in Turkish cinema, but others have dismissed it as a Hollywood copycat that distorts history.
Its budget, at 17 million dollars, has surpassed that for any Turkish movie, and a whopping 3.4 million people flocked to see the film in the first two weeks, according to Box Office Turkey which expects it to shatter records held by previous domestic productions.
“It is not the first film with the theme of (Constantinople's) conquest but it is the first movie ever shot in Turkey at such a scale, and with such a big budget,” Filiz Ocal from the film's press office told AFP. The movie depicts the 1453 capture of the Byzantine capital, which was renamed Istanbul and served as the capital of the Ottoman Turks — one of history's longest and biggest empires that stretched from southeast Europe to the Middle East and North Africa — until its collapse in World War I.
Even its first public showing, at precisely 14:53 pm, was symbolic.
“As a producer, I am proud of our history, our past like everyone living in this country,” director and producer Faruk Aksoy said in a statement.
“The conquest of Istanbul is an undisputed event, not only for our country but also in terms of world history, that closed one era and opened another.” The Turkish press said Erdogan was given a sneak preview and liked the film, which comes amid accusations that his government is promoting “neo-Ottomanism” as a foreign policy tool to restore Turkish influence in former Ottoman zones — a charge it denies.
Once Israel's closest ally in the Muslim world, Turkey has abandoned its role as a Middle East intermediary and taken advantage of an Arab vacuum — while Arab leaders are busy in the wake of popular uprisings — to forge a new role as a regional standard-bearer.
As the only mainly Muslim member of NATO, Turkey had long been seen as having its diplomatic feet firmly planted in the West.
But under Erdogan's term, it has increasingly rewritten the script, not only falling out with Israel and breaking ranks with the West over its response towards Iran's nuclear ambitions but also showing a willingness to get tough with Syria's brutal crackdown on regime opponents.
“With its booming economy and political influence, Turkey is perceived as a model in the Middle East,” said Mensur Akgun, international relations professor at Istanbul's Kultur University.
“It is only natural that the stronger Turkey gets, the more seriously it is taken by the world,” he added.
