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Hundreds of artists, musicians, star actors, athletes and businessmen have joined the mass protest rallies in neighboring Turkey.
Familiar faces of Turkish television, including the cast and crew of the hit show The Magnificent Century were spotted in Taksim Square in support of protesters, with mega star Halit Ergenc calling on officials to end the violence, the Bulgarian 24 Chassa (24 Hours) daily reported, citing Turkish media.
Ergenc, who plays Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, led the entire cast of the internationally-famous TV series, with other actors including Mehmet Gunsur, Ozan Guven, Serkan Altunorak, and Deniz Cak?r, leaving the set to join the protesters Wednesday.
Cakir is further known to Bulgarian viewers from her leading role in another hit TV series "The Fall of the Leaves."
"The only way to solve this issue is to quit the attitude of 'I did so, so it is done,' and instead listen to what these people want, and to form a democratic platform through which these wishes can be heard. Please end this violence, and start to listen, and to understand," Ergenc has written on his Facebook page.
He arrived to the rally in the company of his wife, Berguzar Korel, who is also a mega star, known in Bulgaria from the TV series "Scheherazade," where she partnered with Ergenc. The two met and fell in love on the set.
They were greeted by the demonstrators with thundering applause and shouts: "Sultan Suleiman is hours; Erdogan – go away!"
The famous Turkish prime time historical soap opera TV series "The Magnificent Century" is dedicated to the rule of the longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, also known as the Lawmaker and his love for Ukrainian (Slavic) concubine Hurrem (Roxelana, Roxolana), who conquered his heart and soul and even became his wife and queen, something unprecedented in Ottoman history.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has strongly criticized the series and even threatened to ban it as he sees it as misrepresenting the image and the deeds of the Sultan.
Turkish singer Tarkan is among the many to postpone several tour dates in accordance with the ongoing protests and voiced support for the demonstrators. Three of the most popular Turkish TV hosts have suspended temporarily their shows in sign of protest against the information blackout.
Nobel Prize winner and prominent Turkish author, Orhan Pamuk, has joined many other intellectuals in his country, condemning the repressions, which began on May 28 over plans to redevelop Gezi Park in Taksim.
Other reports of tremendous show of support keep coming from Turkey such as hospitals treating the injured for free; hotels and hotel chains offering free shelter to them; people helping each other in any possible way; restaurants providing free food, and pharmacies offering free masks to protect people from the teargas used by police to disperse the rallies.
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