Turkey to Be Honored at MIPCOM 2015

CANNES: At a signing ceremony this morning between Reed MIDEM and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Turkey was named as the 2015 MIPCOM Country of Honour.

"Turkey has been a longtime partner of MIPTV and MIPCOM," said Jerome Delhaye, director of the entertainment division at Reed MIDEM, at this morning's signing ceremony. "We have been working with the [Istanbul] Chamber of Commerce for a long time. Turkey is a country with a lot of content. They have been doing a fantastic job the last few years in terms of bringing the quality of what they are doing to an international level. We are sure that next year, it’s going to be all about Turkey."

"The [content] sector is very dynamic," Dursun Topcu, VP of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, told World Screen. "For many years, the TV sector has made a lot of progress. We have a young, creative and energetic population. Every month there are new series. They are not only successful domestically. They do great outside of Turkey. Now we have to go one step further. [Being the] Country of Honour is a good opportunity for this sector to make further progress."

Turkey's drama exports rake in about $150 million every year. The Country of Honour activities will include panels, screenings and networking events. "The COH program allows TV executives from around the world to discover the richness of Turkey's TV and entertainment industry," said Laurine Garaude, director of Reed MIDEM's television division.