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Turkish film 'demonises' US
4.2.2006
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Istanbul - In the
most expensive Turkish movie ever made, American
soldiers in Iraq crash a wedding and pump a little
boy full of lead in front of his mother.
They kill dozens of innocent people with random
machine gun fire, shoot the groom in the head, and
drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison - where a
Jewish doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells
to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv.
Valley of the Wolves Iraq - set to open in Turkey on
Friday - feeds off the increasingly negative
feelings many Turks harbour toward their longtime
Nato allies: Americans.
The movie, which reportedly cost about $10, is a
work of fiction and does not purport to level
allegations against American troops. It is part of a
new genre of popular culture in Turkey that
demonises the United States. |
Valley of the Wolves Iraq film poster
Photo: AFP |
Hostility
The film comes on the heels of a novel called Metal
Storm about a war between Turkey and the US, which
has been a best seller for months.
One recent opinion poll revealed the depth of the
hostility in Turkey toward Americans: 53% of Turks
who responded to the 2005 Pew Global Attitudes
survey associated Americans with the word "rude";
70% with "violent"; 68% with "greedy"; and 57% with
"immoral".
Advance tickets are already selling out across
Turkey for the film, which has dialogue in Turkish,
Arabic, Kurdish and English. In addition to Turkey,
the film is set to be shown in more than a dozen
other countries - including the US, Britain,
Germany, The Netherlands, Britain, Denmark, Russia,
Egypt, Syria and Australia.
The movie's American stars are Billy Zane, who plays
a self-professed "peacekeeper sent by God", and Gary
Busey as the Jewish-American doctor.
Not concerned about US opinion
US soldiers have become hate figures in Muslim
countries around the world after the unpopular war
in Iraq. But here in Turkey, a personal grudge fuels
the resentment.
Valley of the Wolves Iraq opens with a true story:
On July 4 2003, in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq,
troops from the US Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade
raided and ransacked a Turkish special forces
office, threw hoods over the heads of 11 Turkish
special forces officers, and held them in custody
for more than two days.
The Americans said they had been looking for Iraqi
insurgents and unwittingly rounded up the Turks
because they were not in uniform. Still, the
incident damaged Turkish-US relations and hurt
Turkish national pride. Turks traditionally idolise
their soldiers; most enthusiastically send their
sons off for mandatory military service.
Istanbul mayor Kadir Topbas and other Turks at the
movie's premiere weren't too concerned about how the
movie would be perceived in the US.
"There isn't going to be a war over this," said
Nefise Karatay, a Turkish model lounging on a sofa
after the premiere. "Everyone knows that Americans
have a good side. That's not what this is about."
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