Turkish TV series like Silver (Gümüş, though for Bulgarian television this is translated as Perl), 1001 Nights (Binbir Gece), The Foreign Groom (Yabancı Damat), The Fall of Leaves (Yaprak Dökümü) and My Mother (Annem) have become hugely popular on Bulgarian television in recent years.

Compared to Latin-American series, which Bulgarian television channels screened in the past, Turkish drama series attract 50 per cent higher ratings, according to bTV programme co-ordinator Ventsislava Konova.

Bulgarian journalist Kristina Vladimirova  has now made a 15-minute documentary to find out why these series are so popular, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported. For her documentary, Vladimirova interviewed social scientists and audiences.

According to Vladimirova, the discrepancy in popularity between Latin American and Turkish series was mostly due to a difference in family values. In Latin American series, women were always in the background because of the strong influence of the Catholic Church, while in Turkish series modern and traditional worlds met and families were central, Hurriyet quoted her as saying.

Vladimirova said that Bulgarian audiences she interviewed said they felt close to the family models depicted in the Turkish series. "There is respect for old people in modern Turkish families," Vladimirova said. A respect that, according to her, affected Bulgarian audiences.

The documentary showed that the Turkish TV series affected Bulgarians' domestic relations and even name traditions, Hurriyet said, referring to reports that newborns were named after characters from the series. According to Turkologist Yana Zhelyazkova, Turkish soaps changed the opinion of viewers about Turkish people. 

"The number of Bulgarians traveling to Turkey has increased by 40 per cent," Zhelyazkova was quoted by Hurriyet as saying. "They want to visit places where the TV series are made."