Netflix Blocks Greek-Cypriot Series on Cyprus Invasion After Turkish Pressure

The upcoming release of the TV series “Famagusta” on Netflix starting September 20 had sparked intense reactions in Turkey.

“As the organization that regulates and supervises digital broadcasting services in our country, [we have] held the necessary meetings with the broadcaster Netflix and an understanding has been reached that the production will not be broadcast [outside Greece],” said Ebubekir Sahin, the head of Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council, in a social media post.

Sahin stated that the production will only be available on Netflix’s catalog in Greece, where it was originally broadcast, and will not be included in Turkey or any other country’s catalog.

He called it “an unacceptable mistake that some circles, with malicious intent, have come up with a film that denigrates the Turks, our country and our heroic army, while the historical facts are obvious.”

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry had strongly criticized the series, claiming it serves “the black propaganda of the ‘Greek-Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus’ [Republic of Cyprus], distorting historical events.” The ministry also stated that the series “is a great disrespect to the honored memories of the Turkish Cypriots who were massacred by Greek-Cypriot gangs in the period 1963-74.”