Is it true that "24" is portraying the Turks as terrorists???

[SmileyBoy]

I was talking with my father about "24" when one of the promos for the show was on TV, and he said that the show is portraying the Turkish people as terrorists (he and I are Turkish, BTW). I haven't watched the show at all, so I don't know. But if it's true that "24" is doing this, then it just has to be the most ignorant thing ever portrayed on TV. If this is the case, then whoever is writing for the show has to be a complete dumbass.

[Shopaholic]

1. Yes

[SmileyBoy]

2. Then I won't watch the show then.

If NFL football was moved to NBC/CBS and the Simpsons were on another network, then I wouldn't watch that piece of shit FOX network at all.

[mark414]

3. are you a native Turk?

i have a good friend who lives in Ankara...he was a foreign exchange student...great guy, i want to get over there to visit...

[SmileyBoy]

4. My father's a Turkish immigrant.

I was born in the US, however. I have dual Turkish/American citrizenship, though. I got it back in the days when it was legal for an American to obtain dual citizenship.

[Ian David]

6. 24 employs a broad spectrum of terrorists

In past seasons of 24, we've had American, Bosnian, Central American, Middle Eastern (from an imaginary Mid-east country).

If I were Turkish, I wouldn't take it personally.

[Beware the Beast Man]

8. Not to mention members of Palmer's inner circle.

[MissMillie]

5. I don't think it is

You know, just because the terrorists in this show happen to be muslim, or Turkish, that doesn't mean that the show protrays all muslims or turks as terrorists.

[Beware the Beast Man]

7. I wouldn't make that conclusion just yet.

Nothing is what it seems on this program. That has been the case for the previous three seasons as well. There's another thread floating around the Lounge right now where I make the same arguement. Matter of fact, last season's top "evil guy" was British, and I hardly think that "24" portrayed all British folks as terrorists.

[Liberal Veteran]

9. Not really....it is portraying some Turks which are terrorists...

There is a distinction. It is not certainly not portraying all Turks as terrorists.

So far 24 has showed Mexican terrorists. American terrorists. Russian terrorists. They have pretty much showed terrorists across the spectrum so far.

Maybe not the smartest thing in the world to portray terrorists of Middle Eastern origin at this point, but it's not like they have been "picking on" the Arabs.

[redqueen]

10. No

The terrorists on the show are from Turkey, but there is NO justification for saying that the show portrays Turks as terrorists.

In fact, in one episode the terrorist dad is sitting in what I took to be a Turkish cafe and the hostess / waitress sees the attack he helped mastermind on the news. She says isn't it a shame what these terrible people do to make us all look so bad?

So it seems they even added material to a scene specifically to communicate the idea that not all Turks are terrorists.

But... whatever...

[SmileyBoy]

11. You don't seem to understand:

There are NO terrorists who are Turks in real life. Turks are too damn secular. The most hard-line, fundie Muslim Turk would bee seen as soft in most other Muslim countries. There have been no accounts of Al-Qaeda members in real life being Turkish. When I mean "portraying Turks as terrorists", I mean "showing some terrorists to be Turks". The truth is that there has been NO evidence that a Turk has been involved in terrorist activity in real life.

There are no Al-Qaeda cells in Turkey. There's tons in America, Bosnia, or whatever, but none in Turkey.

[Beware the Beast Man]

12. I honestly don't believe the writers are trying to infer anything.

As mentioned before, the villains on "24" came from all parts of the globe, and many of them were domestic. Besides, I have a feeling that the teenage son will eventually evolve into the hero of the day. It certainly seems to be moving in that direction.

EDITED- changed wording to "villains"- more suitable.

[DrGonzoLives]

13. That's why it's called "fiction"

n/t

[Liberal Veteran]

14. That's silly....

1) It's a fictional tv show.

2) It's shown white, black, asian, and latino terrorists in previous seasons.

3) Their is 1 family involved that happens to have immigrated to the US from Turkey at some point. We don't know the origin of the rest of the bad guys.

4) Should I be offended because they showed white American terrorists in previous seasons? Of course not! That's just silly.

[redqueen]

15. The Italian police claimed to have arrested terrorists from Turkey.

Perhaps it's the definition of 'terrorist' that's the problem here?

[fishwax]

16. I think that's a little naive

to say that there are no al-quaeda cells in turkey, but you might be right.

It is wrong, though, to say that there are no terrorists who are Turks in real life. Turkey is secular, but there is a minority that opposes the secular government, and if I remember right, they have been responsible for terrorist attacks on the secular government as well as criticism of alliance with western governments.

[DrGonzoLives]

20. Let's not forget Cyprus

Turkish terrorists (and, to be fair, Greeks as well) have done nasty things to that little island over the years.

[grace0418]

17. That seems like a pretty broad statement

How can you know for a fact that there are NO terrorists who are Turks in real life? I would never make such a claim (and yes, I have family on my dad's side in Turkey). Bad people exist in every country, in every religion, in every size, shape and color. I think the writers of 24 are just trying to cast a wide net and make the villians be from every country so no one is singled out.

[theboss]

18. Well, that's just a crazy statement

None? Not one angry radical Muslim in all of Turkey.

For God's sake, we've found middle-class white Americans fighting with the Taliban.

[Xithras]

19. Er, do you really believe that?

Funny, I seem to recall some bomb blasts at synagogues, banks, embassies, and other locations recently in Ankara and Istanbul by an alleged al Queda affiliate. Turkey, IIRC, even has the mastermind in custody, and he was a Turk. The eastern Kurds are also Turkish, and they engage in terrorist attacks on a halfway regular basis.

You must use a different definition of terrorist than I do.

[Ian David]

21. 24 unfairly brands all mountain lions as man-eaters!

"So who saw 24 on Sunday? Amazing episode - with one flaw, of course - Kim. Still running aimlessly through woodland, only to be trapped by A MOUNTAIN LION.
http://www.24weblog.com/2003/05/15/03.05.30/