Minister urges foreign filmmakers to shoot in Turkey

By Yildiz Aktas, Aynur Ekiz and Yasemin Kalyoncuoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey is encouraging foreign filmmakers to shoot in the country by offering convenience, Culture and Tourism Minister Nabi Avci announced Thursday.

Avci told Anadolu Agency that interest and confidence in the Turkish cinema sector had increased, referring to a big South Korean company’s purchase last year of a Turkish movie theatre chain.

"The biggest incentive we can give to foreign filmmakers is to reduce the cost of shooting a film in Turkey. Many European countries do it very well by providing convenience," he underlined.

Avci gave Bulgaria and Hungary as examples of success in supporting foreign film crews.

"So, we are working on that issue through a law on cinema. I hope we will submit it to the Turkish Parliament in the near future," he said.

Avci stressed that his ministry's support for the cinema sector had increased every year, reaching nearly 26 million Turkish Liras ($7 million) for 2017.