Valley of the Wolves
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Valley of the Wolves |
| Original title | Kurtlar Vadisi |
| Country of production | Turkey |
| original language | Turkish |
| Year (s) | 2003-2005 |
| length | 80 minutes |
| Episodes | 97 in 4 seasons |
| genre | Crime, mafia, political series |
| idea | Osman Sinav |
| music | Loopus Gökhan Kırdar |
| First broadcast | January 15, 2003 on Show TV |
| occupation | |
| |
Valley of the Wolves (2003-2005) ( Turkish Kurtlar Vadisi ) is a Turkish television series that is about a fictional Turkish news service that wants to bring down illegal political machinations within the Turkish borders. It partly refers to real events that have been discussed in Turkey as a deep state since the 1970s .
The films that followed the series' Valley of the Wolves - Iraq , Valley of the Wolves - Gladio and Valley of the Wolves - Palestine and Valley of the Wolves - Fatherland became known beyond the borders of Turkey .
action
The series tells how the KGT agent ("Kamu Güvenliği Teşkilatı", a fictional Turkish secret service) Ali Candan, who works as a special agent on behalf of the Turkish government in Kosovo and Bosnia for the KLA, he is shortly after the condition ordered back on his mission to Istanbul. His superior and paternal friend, Aslan Akbey, explains to him that his death should be faked in order to smuggle him into the Turkish mafia under the name "Polat Alemdar". Ali Candan will undergo plastic surgery that will change not only his face but also his vocal cords. With his new look and his new identity, a new life begins for him as he has to leave his past behind. Ali Candan is considered dead by his family and friends. The first plot with a new identity begins when Polat saves the life of the famous mafia patron, Süleyman Çakır. This leads to "Polat Alemdar" being smuggled into the mafia and thus his plan to smash the Turkish mafia takes its course.
After a short time he joins Çakır. Çakır's father-in-law is a member of the Mafia Congress, which includes the ten most senior mafiosi. The smaller gangs fight each other to rise in the underworld and get into Congress. Alemdar tries to win over his old fiancée during the shooting breaks without telling her who he is. However, she is still mourning her friend, who was believed to be dead. Little by little the little gang around Çakır works its way up. Among other things, Çakır and Alemdar open a casino that is attacked by a high-ranking mafioso and his troops. Çakır's sister dies. This swears revenge and snatches the mafioso with a ruse. The mafia boss is tortured and cruelly murdered. After the ensuing act of revenge, the group rises and becomes a leading group in the underworld. This happens until the middle of the second season.
With the rise, the number of their enemies grows. Little by little they hunt down drug dealers and blackmailers. Many other gangs try to assassinate them. More and more foreign mafia organizations get involved in the intrigues. The Russians are coming with slow steps. Later, a psychopath traps Çakır and murders him. Polat had previously slit the psychopath's brother's throat. After Çakır's death, Polat takes the lead in the group. He's feuding with a mafioso from Congress to the death. Polat murders the Russian mafia baron, catches his archenemy and hands him over to his boss. Shortly afterwards, his boss is assassinated. Polat feels alone. After these events a terrorist appears with his people and spreads fear and terror. Polat works more and more closely with the state, but nobody knows. A while later the terrorist is killed. Polat reveals his identity to the intelligence chief. He made more and more contacts with the Mafia Congress and the baron. At that time, a Russian mafia group also comes. Polat becomes the baron's advisor and saves his life, but only to gain his trust and kill him himself. But then Polat learns that the baron is his father. He himself was kidnapped when he was a baby. He collapses, but keeps this secret to himself. Meanwhile, his fiancée finds out that the dead man in the grave is not her fiancé. When an ominous sect murders the baron, Polat becomes his successor and now rules the mafia congress. According to the baron, the mysterious sect kills more and more people using technically complex methods. Meanwhile, Polat is planning a devastating attack on the Russian mafia. Using a helicopter armed with a Gatlinggun , Polat and his men attack the Russians and beat them. At the end of season three, Polat's fiancée is misled and kidnapped by a phone call from the sect. Again because of a call, she runs out of the house and has a car accident. Polat is called to a deserted area. Three poison arrows stun him. In the last scene he is lying in a coffin and sand falls on it through a mechanism.
Production and publication
The series is based on an idea by Osman Sınav and was produced by Pana Film. The main actor Necati Şaşmaz is dubbed in the series to give him a more serious voice.
The series initially ran on the Turkish broadcaster Show TV . There three seasons of the series were broadcast. After the third season Kurtlar Vadisi switched to the channel Kanal D , where the eleven episodes of the fourth and final season were shown. The series has a total of 97 episodes.
Charisma
| Season | Time slot | Season premiere | Season finale | Episodes produced | Episodes broadcast | TV season | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st season | Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. | January 15, 2003 | June 18, 2003 | 20th | 1 - 20 | 2003 | Show TV |
| 2nd season | Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. | October 2, 2003 | June 24, 2004 | 35 | 21 - 55 | 2003-2004 | |
| 3rd season | September 23, 2004 | June 9, 2005 | 31 | 56-86 | 2004-2005 | ||
| 4th season | October 6, 2005 | December 29, 2005 | 13 | 87-97 | 2005 | Channel D |
background
The series is partly based on real events in Turkey, at least some political events are re-enacted, including events that have been publicized in the Turkish press and media since 1993 and are still ongoing: The murder of Uğur Mumcus , a Turkish publicist and well-known Columnists, hit by a car bomb. The subsequent uncovering of parts of his research led to outrage and shock in the population. It was revealed that Mumcu was working on an article about the Turkish Mafia, which made his death more significant but also more mysterious. Conspiracy theories have been raised among the population that Mumcu was killed by his own government to cover up secrets such as the alleged collaboration between the government and the mafia. This key event led to criticism of the government at the time - from then on it was known that there was an organization whose influence even reached into government circles. This topic is called the Deep State in Turkey .
Mumcu's assassination is mentioned indirectly in the series, but they refrained from recreating it - the reporter who spoke to Şevko - a mafia boss who wanted to break away on the series - was an allusion to Uğur Mumcu. Other key events that came about in the years that followed cemented the assumption that it was an illegal organization with great influence. For example the Susurluk accident (Susurluk kazası / Susurluk olayı). This event was named after the scene of the accident, a small town in western Turkey near Balıkesir . On November 3, 1996 at around 7:25 p.m. there was an ordinary and severe traffic accident with fatal consequences between a car and a truck. This traffic accident exposed the connection between members of the government and the Turkish mafia, as a member of the ruling party DYP was inside the car , Sedat Edip Bucak , the director of the Eröge Police School in Istanbul, Hüseyin Kocadağ, and Abdullah Çatlı, wanted by the police for murder and founding an illegal organization . This raised the question of why members of the government were sitting in a private car with a supposed mafia member. With the exception of Sedat Edip Bucak, all inmates were killed. This event was also taken over in the series 1 to 1. Other events and scandals were either slightly changed or taken up completely in the series. All characters in the series relate to real people who are or have had anything to do with the mafia or the government.
The series has had a huge impact on Turkish youth, so the name Polat Alemdar has become synonymous with a daredevil and gangster. When one of the main characters, Süleyman Çakır, died in the series, some imams in Turkey said the death prayer and held funeral services on his behalf.
continuation
The broadcast of a sequel began in early 2007. The new series Kurtlar Vadisi - Terör is about terrorism in southeastern Turkey. After the second episode was broadcast, the series was canceled by the Turkish regulatory authority for radio and television broadcasters RTÜK in order to avoid a “provocation” of the Kurds living in Turkey.
The series was re-broadcast under the new title Valley of the Wolves - Ambush .
Critical assessment
The series is - at least in the German media - in the criticism that it has a strong nationalistic character.
Web links
- Valley of the Wolves in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- www.kurtlarvadisi.com
- www.kurtlarvadisi_en.com