Valley of the Wolves as representative of Turkish popular attitudes towards Iraq

International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies Volume 3 Number 1 copy 2009 Intellect Ltd

Article English language doi 101386ijcis31751

Valley of the Wolves as representative ofTurkish popular attitudes towards IraqAhmed Khalid Al-Rawi Majan University College

AbstractIn 2006 the Turkish film Valley of the Wolves [Kurtlar Vadisi-Irak] (SerdarAkar 2006) was released to audiences in Turkey and Europe Costing US$10million it was the most expensive production in the history of Turkish cinemabreaking all box office records in the country A fantastical account of a Turkishvictory over a fictional US invasion of the country Valley of the Wolves hasbeen interpreted as a reaction to the lsquoSack Incidentrsquo [ccediluval olayi] of July 2003 inwhich eleven Turkish soldiers were hooded and arrested in northern Iraq shortlyafter the US invasion The filmrsquos title hence refers to a dark and dangerous placewhere howling and vicious lsquowolvesrsquo ndash namely Americans and Kurds ndash are gath-ered This article argues that Valley of the Wolves confirms a reemergence of1960s Turkish industry (Yesilccedilam) films which emphasized the historical con-flict between Western and Islamic values It discusses the extent to which Valleyof the Wolves reflects popular Turkish attitudes towards the US war on Iraq andit analyzes the filmrsquos projection of Turkish humiliation anger and frustration fol-lowing the Sack Incident The article also addresses how Valley of the Wolvesengages USndashTurkish relations and Turkish concerns over current Iraq-related pol-itics especially the USndashKurdish alliance the establishment of an independentKurdistan Turkmen and the issue of Kirkuk US violations of international law inIraq and the conflict between Islam and Christianity

IntroductionYesilccedilam (literally lsquoGreen Pinersquo) the historical Turkish film industryunderwent significant growth following the Second World War when itbegan producing scores of films annually By the 1960s Turkey hadbecome the worldrsquos sixth largest cinematic producer ndash but this lsquogolden erarsquowould not last as political crisis and the introduction of television andvideo led to Yesilccedilamrsquos decline (Doumlnmez-Colin 2007 51) Susan Haywardargues that 1960s Turkish cinema saw the emergence of two national filmmovements the first of which was preoccupied with the perceived conflictbetween lsquoWestern values and Islamic traditional valuesrsquo especiallythrough depiction of Turkish traditions a recurrent theme that would re-emerge during the 1990s and the second of which was concerned withlsquoIslamic ideologyrsquo (436ndash7) an issue that would re-emerge during the2000s in films such as A Manrsquos Fear of God [Takva] (Oumlzer Kiziltan 2006)Times and Winds [Bes Vakit] (Reha Erdem 2006) Destiny [Kader] (Zeki

75IJCIS 3 (1) 75ndash84 copy Intellect Ltd 2009

KeywordsValley of the WolvesTurkish cinemaTurkish cultureIraq warAmerican violations

IJCIS-Vol-3_1-05-Al-Rawi-090004 52309 702 PM Page 75

Demirkubuz 2006) and Adamrsquos Trains [Ademrsquoin Trenleri] (Baris Pirhasan2007) (Deniz and Akkaya Sundays Zaman)

After 1980 Turkish cinema experienced exceptional decline Audiencescame to prefer Hollywood to Turkish films as the latter was increasinglydevoid of popular appeal In 1986 the Turkish Ministry of Culture sensingthe danger of such decline intervened to support Turkish cinema in variousoften novel ways (Hayward 2000 436) Turkish directors were compelledto adapt to market imperatives through utilization and dependence onnew Western technologies This enabled them to produce hybrid genre films(usually of the actionndashsuspense variety) as well as to tackle sensitive themesof public concern including unofficial government practices migrationand the Kurdish question Ironically such themes were addressed moreopenly than ever as freedom of expression had come to be encouraged inconjunction with Turkish efforts to rapproche European Union standards(Ayliffe et al 2003 1055)

More recently a post-Yesilccedilam cinema has emerged in which high-budget commercial successes have been produced These include Vizontele(Yılmaz ErdoganOumlmer Faruk Sorak 2001) starring Yılmaz ErdoganGORA (Sorak 2007) starring Cem Yılmaz Vizontele Tuuba (the sequel toVizontele) (Erdogan 2004) and Valley of the Wolves (Serdar Akar 2006)This blockbuster aspect notwithstanding the lsquotrendsrsquo characteristic ofpost-Yesilccedilam cinema since the 1980s (Doumlnmez-Colin 2006 119) havelargely been associated with particular directors ndash what Erdogan andGoumlktuumlrk refer to as auteurism (536) ndash thus rendering the new developmentimprecise and disunified

Of the big-budget films Valley of the Wolves is noteworthy for its focuson the continuing conflict between Islam and the West its projection ofdesire for understanding between those ostensible adversaries and for anationally unified Turkish government that can embrace all religious andethnic groups within the country Hence its thematic roots are locatableto 1960s Yesilccedilam which emphasized the importance of a strong govern-ment capable of protecting its citizens both inside and outside geographi-cal borders in a way that would safeguard the dignity of all Turks In thewake of the filmrsquos success The Masked Five in Iraq (2007) was released Itportrays a gang of Turks who dupe United States officers stationed in Iraqin order to secure Iraqi oil resources thus capitalizing upon the range ofpatriotic feeling evoked by Valley of the Wolves A third film in this veritablesub-genre yet more nostalgic in tone is The Last Ottoman (2007) whichconcerns the heroism of an Ottoman soldier during the latter part of theFirst World War (Butler Turkish Daily News)

Background to Valley of the WolvesIn 2004 a novel entitled Metal Storm [Metal Firtina] was published inTurkey Co-authored by science-fiction writer Orkun Ucar and journalistBurak Turna Metal Storm was especially popular among Turkish militaryForeign Ministry and Cabinet personnel Its story is set in (a future) 2007as US forces invade Turkey from neighbouring Iraq and destroy thecountry in ways that recall the 2003 US invasion of Iraq Following thefictional 2007 invasion the US attempts to divide Turkey among its his-torical adversaries Greece and Armenia and establish a Kurdish state

76 Ahmed Khalid Al-Rawi


1 Turkish forces haveonly a few militarybases located mainlyin the Dohukgovernorate For moreinformation seeGareth JenkinslsquoUnwelcome GuestsThe Turkish MilitaryBases in NorthernIraqrsquo TerrorismMonitor 66 (24March 2008)

2 For details see the filmrsquos officialwebsite wwwvalleyofthewolvesiraqcom

3 This incidentoccurred when Iraqisecurity forcesintentionally leftseveral detaineesinside a truckcontainer which ledto their deaths fromoverheating andsuffocation The Roadto Guantanamo(MichaelWinterbottomMatWhitecross 2006)depicts the sameincident as ithappened originallyin Afghanistan

4 Beginning in late2006 US filmmakersbegan directing filmsconcerning humanrights violations inIraq including TheSituation (Philip Haas2006) Redacted(Brian De Palma2007) In the Valley ofElah (Paul Haggis2007) and Battle forHaditha (NickBroomfield 2007) allof which draw fromactual events

77Valley of the Wolves as representative of Turkish popular attitudes towards Iraq

Finally a Kurdish-Turkish hero Gokan comes to the rescue and savesTurkey by attacking the US with a nuclear weapon (Widmer 2005Schleifer 2005) Over 50000 copies of Metal Storm have been sold

Metal Storm was published one year after the lsquoSack Incidentrsquo (lsquoccediluvalolayirsquo) of 4 July 2003 in which approximately 100 US soldiers led byColonel William Mayville of the 173rd Airborne 4th Infantry Divisionraided the headquarters of the Turkish Special forces in Sulymaniah cityand arrested eleven Turkish soldiers1 The arrested soldiers were hoodedinterrogated and released after 60 hours whereupon US General DavidPetraeus responsible at the time for US forces in northern Iraq was nick-named lsquoccediluvalci pasharsquo ndash lsquoHood Generalrsquo The United States tried to justifythese arrests by claiming it was trying to prevent Turkish forces fromassassinating the Kurdish governor of Kirkuk Abd-al-Rahman MustafaTurkish observers believe however that the incident was orchestratedafter the Turkish Parliament rejected on 1 March 2003 a US request touse Turkish territory as a launching pad for its invasion of IraqDiplomatic relations between the United States and Turkey suffered exten-sively in the wake of these events

When Valley of the Wolves was released three years later these eventswere still fresh in the minds of the Turkish populace ndash and the US presencein Iraq had escalated Adapted from a Turkish television series of the samename that had already enjoyed three highly successful seasons2 the filmversion grossed more than US$279 million primarily in Turkey and alsoin Europe especially countries heavily populated by Turkish immigrantsand guest-workers Following the filmrsquos release an ensuing increase inanti-American sentiment prompted the US Army to issue warnings to itspersonnel not to frequent theatres at which the film was playing (Stars andStripes 7 February 2006)

Valley of the Wolves likely produced such responses and subsequentlyaccrued a sense of public importance because of its obvious political rele-vance to actual events which had taken place in post-invasion Iraqnamely the Abu Ghraib scandal the torture and humiliation of Iraqidetainees the May 2004 massacre of Iraqis celebrating at a wedding nearRutba city the execution of detainees held captive in a truck container3

and countless additional acts of everyday humiliation ScriptwriterBahadir Oumlzdener said of the film that its aim was to speak lsquoout against thewar the occupation and the human rights violationsrsquo (Associated Press 4March 2006)

Our film is a sort of political action Maybe 60 or 70 percent of what happensonscreen is factually true Turkey and America are allies but Turkey wantsto say something to its friend We want to say the bitter truth We want tosay that this is wrong

(Letsch 2006)4

Valley of the Wolves was well-received not only by popular audiences but byTurkish politicians who have traditionally remained detached from suchmatters for diplomatic reasons Turkish Prime Minister Recep TayyipErdogan reportedly screened the film privately (I

diz 2006) At its public

premier which he attended with Erdoganrsquos wife Parliament Speaker


Buumllent Arınccedil declared Valley of the Wolves a lsquogreat film that will go down inhistoryrsquo When asked whether he thought the film corresponded to real-life events in Iraq Arınccedil replied lsquoYes exactlyrsquo it was lsquorealisticrsquo (TurkishDaily News 6 February 2006 Huumlrriyet 16 February 2006) Erdoganrsquos wifereferring to the filmrsquos heroic Turks chimed in that she was lsquoproud of themallrsquo When the film received harsh criticism from the US Turkish ForeignMinister Abdullah Guumll retorted that it was lsquonothing when compared tocertain films made recently in Americarsquo and added lsquoCooperation betweenour countries is in everybodyrsquos interest Such films can be made as long asthey do not include insult and disrespectrsquo

Turkish popular viewsCriticism of Valley of the Wolves has interpreted the film as lsquovirtual revengersquofor the Sack Incident (Turkish Daily News 6 January 2007) Semih I

diz for

instance referred to the film as lsquosublimated vengeancersquo for an event thathas lsquoleft a deep mark among Turks for which they will die if necessaryrsquo(2006) Another Turkish writer Elif Safak saw the film along similarlines as a reflection of vying masculinisms lsquoTo give tit-for-tat is the nutsand bolts of the politics of masculinity If you put a hood on my head I puta hood on your headrsquo (2006)

According to a survey conducted in Turkey just prior to the 2003 USinvasion of Iraq 88 per cent of Turks opposed any kind of military con-frontation with Iraq and approximately two out of three believed Turkeyshould not interfere in any military action (Turkish Daily News 10 January2003) A later survey conducted in June 2006 revealed that lsquo88 percentof the respondents held unfavourable views of the United States mainlybecause of the Iraq war When asked whether they believe that the war onIraq made the world a safer place more than 90 percent of the respondentsaid ldquonordquorsquo (Pew Global Attitudes Project June 2006) These results attestto deep-seated anger felt by many Turks towards the United States inrecent years

The Messages of Valley of the WolvesA prevailing theme in Valley of the Wolves is that the US invasion andoccupation of Iraq is rooted in a historical struggle between Islam andJudeo-Christianity In 1976 Turkey did recognize the Charter of theOrganization of the Islamic Conference and during that same year ithosted the Islamic Foreign Ministers Conference (Liel 56) Many Turkswould subsequently oppose the 1991 Gulf War because accordingly theordinary Turkish lsquoman in the street identified himself with his Muslimbrothersrsquo (Ibrahim 285) Although the various Muslim countries professdivergent interests foreign policies and orientations towards secularismTurkey and the Arab states are nonetheless strongly connected by civiliza-tional Islam (Liel 54) Erdoganrsquos Muslim-based Justice and DevelopmentParty (AKP) which won the 2007 Turkish elections exemplifies the per-sistent power and influence of Islam in that country Indeed Turkeyremains committed to Islam despite calls to join the European Union thatwould require it to abandon its Islamic roots Many Turks continue tounderstand the US war on Iraq as an attack on Islam ndash a view shared byseveral Muslim countries



The opening scenes of Valley of the Wolves depicts the presence of JewishIsraelis in Erbil northern Iraq Contrasting official Kurdish reports Israelisare shown residing in the cityrsquos Grand Harlton Hotel their presenceviewed by local Muslims as a religious violation5 Similiary an Americandoctor who removes organs from Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib is charac-terized as Jewish in order to underscsore his villainy The kidneys of hisvictims are sent to London New York and Tel Aviv ndash a fictional elabora-tion meant to heighten his treachery and generalize it to all US operationsin the region6

The film likewise stresses discord between Muslims and Christians byemphasizing the religious motives of a CIA agent Marshal Sam who pro-claims lsquoI am a peacekeeper assigned by Godrsquo and who believes he is lsquoGodrsquoschildrsquo Sam is characterized as a devout Christian whose main objective incoming to Iraq was to purify his soul and change peoplesrsquo minds In factSamrsquos Christian devotion is typical of the US president portrayed in MetalStorm he brags of being exceptional (lsquoGodrsquos chosen peoplersquo) and withZion on his mind he promises lsquoIrsquoll die in these lands My blood will flow inthese lands until we return here and until the promised land becomesoursrsquo For Sam the Judeo-Christian lsquoPromised Landrsquo shall be reached viaIraq where lsquopeace shall overwhelmrsquo The conflictrsquos religious dimension isfurther emphasized near filmrsquos end as shots of Muslim Sufi prayer are jux-taposed with those of Samrsquos Christian prayer US forces are shown dese-crating Muslim holy sites bombing mosque minarets during the call toprayer ndash recalling an actual event that occurred in Fallujah in 20047

Finally Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib are portrayed praying and cryingsimultaneously highlighting the severity of their humiliation and torturein US hands As one US soldier begins undressing the Iraqi prisoners heshouts lsquoYoursquoll burn here for eternity you sons of bitchesrsquo

Notwithstanding these elements director Serdar Akar who receiveda Special Prize for the film at the Cannes Film Festival claimed that Valleyof the Wolves was intended to lsquopromote a dialogue between religionsrsquo(Letsch 2006) Akar may have been referring to one of the filmrsquos centralTurkman characters a Sufi sheikh named Abdul Rahman Khalis Karkukiwho is widely respected across the various political factions Indeed evena Kurdish commander in the film who resembles KDP (KurdistanDemocratic Party) leader Masursquod Barazani objects to Samrsquos plan to arrestthe sheikh stating that he lsquosaved us from the tyranny of Saddamrsquo and hasdirect lsquolineage to the prophetrsquo In fact the sheikh stands for reason repre-senting a genuine Islamic voice by his persisting attempts to find logicalsolutions to the problem of religious fundamentalism that emerged in Iraqafter the invasion When a female character Layla prepares to blowherself up near a US military installation in retaliation for the killing of herhusband Sheikh Abdul Rahman convinces her to remain steadfastinstead lsquoPatience does not mean humiliation patience is a strugglersquo Thesheikh reasons with Layla reminding her that true Muslims are never likethe followers of Hassan Bin Sabah because they are neither suicidebombers nor murders lsquoEvery suicide operation increases our weaknessand disunity Our enemy wants these operations to increase and he hasprobably organized some of themrsquo Whereas the sheikh seems fatalistic hisadvice is tempered by the claim that there lsquois no hope of being rescued

5 For further evidenceof Israeli involvementin Kurdistan seeYedioth Aharanoth1 December 2005

6 Some errors in thefilm include thedepiction of the Arabwedding party as anIndian one especiallywith respect to thewomenrsquos costumesand the presence inpost-2003 Erbil city ofSaddam Husseinposters andstorefronts bearingsigns in Arabic ndash noneof which have beenvisible there since the1991 Gulf War

7 In April 2004approximately 150 USair strikes werecarried out inFallujah and 75ndash100buildings and twomosque compoundswere badly damagedor destroyed (Hoffman2005 90ndash7)



unless we follow Godrsquos path to liberationrsquo During another incident SheikhAbdul Rahman saves a Western journalist from beheading by an Al-Qaeda-like organization then presents him with the option of killing hiscaptors in order to show that Islam preaches neither murder nor injus-tice In short Valley of the Wolvesrsquo characterization of this Sufi sheikh offersa counter-image to Western media stereotypes of Muslim scholars as itdistinguishes between the genuine Islam he practices and the non-Islamicquality of those who would kill or display disrespect towards other humanbeings

On the other hand Valley of the Wolves concerns itself with the tenserelationship between Turks and Kurds presenting Kurds as lsquoenemyrsquo col-laborators Such projections echo popular Turkish sentiment againstKurds In a Turkish public opinion poll conducted in 2005 91 per cent ofTurks objected to George W Bushrsquos Middle East policy and a majoritystated that the main obstacle to consolidating relations between the twocountries was US inaction towards members of the outlawed KurdistanWorkersrsquo Party (PKK)rsquo (Turkish Daily News 6 February 2006) Article 14 ofthe 1982 Turkish Constitution prohibits any kind of separatist activityhence the PKK has been labelled a terrorist organization accused ofaiming to destabilize the unity and security of the Turkish state It isimportant to note here that between 1984 and 1995 more than 13000Turkish soldiers were killed in armed struggle against the PKK not tomention Turkish financial losses estimated at eight billion dollars per year(Al-Kaylani 1996 59) In turn Iraqi Kurds have been viewed as enemycollaborators ever since they gave logistical assistance to the PKK Turkishfear of the Kurdish independence movement has increased since 1991 In2002 Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit stated directly that there is a lsquode factoKurdish state in northern Iraq [and] we cannot allow this to go anyfurtherrsquo (lsquoTurkey Warns of Lengthy Iraq Warrsquo 2002) In a meetingbetween Hussein Qifriq Aughlu a high-ranking Turkish army officer andPaul Wolfowitz Assistant US Secretary Of Defence prior to the 2003 inva-sion Aughlu confirmed that Turkey lsquoshall interfere directly in the regionin case a Kurdish state with Kirkuk as its capitol [is] establishedrsquo (Ahmad2002) Confirming his Turkmen lineage the Turkish commander alsostressed that the living conditions of Turkmen in Iraq were of concern toTurkey In other words the Iraqi Kurdish efforts to establish an indepen-dent Kurdish state in northern Iraq was and remains a threat to Turkeywhich would hope to control oil-rich Kirkuk as well as the fate of IraqiTurkmen and evoking Turkeyrsquos longstanding ambitions to annex Mosuland Kirkuk8 Turkey fears above all that the establishment of an indepen-dent Kurdish state in northern Iraq would fuel Kurdish ambitions inTurkey and neighbouring countries towards helping create a more expan-sive state which Turkey believes would destablize the region and its owneconomic growth

In Valley of the Wolves Kurds are portrayed as villains who conspire tokill Turkmen and Arabs and who willingly aid the United States The filmopens as three undercover Turkish agents head towards Erbil to avengethe death of their friend When stopped at a Kurdish pashmerga check-point one of the agents provokes the Kurds by telling them lsquoIn Iraq thereare oppressed people I work in human trafficking I was told that

8 The famous Turkishproverb reads lsquoAnagibi yacircr Bagdat gibidiyar olmazrsquo (lsquoTo aman there is no friendlike a brother and noland like Iraqrsquo)



human life here is cheaprsquo A fight ensues in which all the Kurds are killedKurds are likewise portrayed as US pawns For example Sam eventuallyreveals his strategy of divide and conquer by which he has pitted ArabsTurkmen and Kurds against one another in order to serve US interestsWhen he is threatened in the hotel furthermore he uses Kurdish childrenas human shields and forces them to sing pro-American songs In theseinstances Kurds are represented as easily manipulated blindly followingthe American was of life only to satisfy their masters

It should be noted that the film also includes a Turkish Kurd suggest-ing the existence of Kurds in Turkey who are loyal to the state rather thanto the Kurdish independence movement Near filmrsquos end a Turkish officerjust attacked by the US decries lsquoAll of this is because of the Kurdsrsquo towhich his Kurdish comrade replies lsquoBut I am a Kurd toorsquo and the officerresponds lsquoYoursquore different Abdul Hayrsquo In effect Valley of the Wolves echoespopular Turkish sentiment against Kurds displacing Turkish anger overregional conflict and instability onto them

By the same tokey Valley of the Wolves emphasizes the strong bondbetween Turks and Iraqi Turkmen One of the filmrsquos Iraqi characters anaid in Erbil is a Turkman who dies while attempting to rescue his fellowTurks Before dying he expresses his nationalist feelings lsquoTurkey is proudof yoursquo The Turkmen leader Hasan is represented as a nationalistopposed to Kurdish influence in the region When Kurdish pashmirgaforce Arab and Turkmen families to leave Erbil as well as some villagesnear Mosul and Kirkuk Hasan stands firmly against the move Regardingthe United States he says lsquoThey have divided the region by giving themountains to the Kurds the desert to the Arabs and oil for themwhereas Turkmen in Erbil have nowhere to gorsquo Sam executes Hasan forallowing his fellow Turks refuge in his house Once again the sacrificeshows Turkmen willing to die for Turkey as opposed to tyranny The filmrsquosexplicit focus on Turkmen also affirms a purported need for Turkey toprotect its lsquosubjectsrsquo abroad

In addition to depicting the TurkishndashKurdish conflict Valley of theWolves depicts the politically fraught relationship between Turkey and theUnited States through its construction of a conflict between Sam andPolat Almedar the filmrsquos Turkish hero According to a Turkish poll con-ducted in 2005 70 per cent of Turks interviewed linked Americans withthe word lsquoviolentrsquo 68 per cent with lsquogreedyrsquo 57 per cent with lsquoimmoralrsquoand 53 per cent with lsquorudersquo (Pew Global Attitudes 2005) In line withthese findings which indicate just how negatively Americans have beenperceived in Turkey since the US invasion of Iraq (Guumlney 483) Valley ofthe Wolves frequently contrasts benevolent actions of Turks with evil deedsof US soldiers Polat is about to attack the hotel in Erbil for example butdecides not to on learning that Sam is using Kurdish children as humanshields A political discussion ensues between Sam and Polat in whichSam speaks disparagingly of Turkey lsquoWe sent you the elastic for yourgoddam panties Why donrsquot you produce anything The UnitedStates has been paying for you the last 50 years You begged us formore money You begged us to save you from the Communists Howdid you forgetrsquo In this way Sam justifies US aid to the Kurds in terms ofdisapproval of Turkey in turn heightening the dramatic tension between



the two characters ndash and the international conflict they allegorize By con-trast Turkish characters are always portrayed as humane and mercifulWhen the American doctor at Abu Ghraib receives corpses rather thanlive prisoners he comments lsquoHow many times have I told you that theseare living people not animalsrsquo to which a US soldier replies lsquoI have noregret for animals sirrsquo

In the end Sam dies after being stabbed by Polat with Laylarsquos Arabdagger an act that symbolizes the unity of the two peoples ndash Turks andArabs ndash as they rid themselves of the Americans Poetic justice is achievedthe three Turks miraculously return home victorious with Polat and hiscomrades as indefatigueable heroes Tellingly Polatrsquos image in posters forthe film resemble Lawrence of Arabia Ironically however the filmrsquosimplied final message is that Turks will not be humiliated as Iraqis havebeen thus reinforcing the Turkish prejudice ndash extending back through theOttoman Empire ndash of ethnic lsquodifferencersquo and lsquosuperiorityrsquo to Arabs9

In conclusion Valley of the Wolves stands as a vehicle by which toproject Turkish popular concerns and aspirations displacing the conflictbetween Turkey and the United States onto the Kurds and presenting theUS war on Iraq as primarily a religious conflict The film thus encapsulatesthe beliefs of the Turkish majority whose dignity had been injured duringthe Sack Incident in turn supplying a modicum of redress to lost Turkishpride and self-esteem through images of national superheroes defying andovercoming the lsquowolvesrsquo in their own hideouts

AcknowledgementI would like to express my gratitude to Professor Terri Ginsberg for her valuablecomments that greatly enriched this article

ReferencesAhmad RM (2002) lsquoKurdish state without Kirkuk is fine by Turkeyrsquo 21 July

httpwwwkurdmediacomreportsaspid=970 Accessed 4 August 2008

Alawy Hassan (1986) Turkish Influences on Pan-Arabism Project in Iraq LondonDar Al-Zawrarsquoa

Al-Daqouqi Ibrahim (1996) The Turksrsquo Image of Arabs Beirut Center for ArabUnity Studies

Al-Kaylani Haytham (1996) Turkey and the Arabs A Study of the Turkish-ArabRelations (in Arabic) UAE Center for Research and Strategic Studies AbuDhabi Issue 6

Antonius George (1939) The Arab Awakening The Story of the Arab NationalistMovement Philadelphia JB Lippincott

Aydin Mustafa (2004) lsquoTurkish foreign policy framework and analysisrsquo Centerfor Strategic Research Ankara SAM papers No 1 December

Ayliffe Rosie et al (2003) Turkey London Rough Guides

Benson EF (1918) Crescent and Iron Cross London Hodder and Stoughton

Butler Daren (2007) lsquoOttoman rogue is latest Turkish movie herorsquo Turkish DailyNews 15 March

Deniz Tuba and Akkaya Ozden Betul (2008) lsquoIncrease in religious themesin Turkish cinema birth of contemporary Muslim cinemarsquo Sundays Zaman23 March

9 See Benson (47)Alawy (84) Antonius(185ndash91) and Aydin(22) As Asis Ali Beyan Egyptian major inthe Ottoman GeneralStaff proclaimedwhen he met GeneralJamal PashaCommander of theFourth Army in SinaiPalestine and Syria tocomplain aboutTurkish treatment ofArabs

What have youTurks done for usArabs except try toexterminate usinsult and despise usthat you shouldnow expect friendlytreatment on ourpart Are youforgetting that inConstantinoplewhen you want tocall a dog you shoutlsquoArab Arab ArabrsquoWhen you want tosay that anything isobscure andincomprehensibleyou say lsquoItrsquos like thehair of an ArabrsquoOne of your petphrases is lsquoA fig forthe splendors ofDamascus if onlywe neednrsquot seeanother Arabianfacersquo Are not thelines of your poetlsquoOn the evening Ileft Damascus Isaid ldquoBlessed be thisholy nightrdquorsquo one ofyour favouriteexpressions (Pasha1922 61)

This attitude is shared by manyPersians on similargrounds Theseethno-chauvinistsentiments are echoedin some Americanfilms that depictIranians includingHouse of Sand and Fog(Vadim Pereleman2003) in which BenKingsley states lsquoIrsquomnot an Arabrsquo when



Doumlnmez-Colin Goumlnuumll (2006) Cinemas of the Other A Personal Journey with Film-makers from the Middle East and Central Asia London Intellect Books

mdashmdashmdash (2007) The Cinema of North Africa and the Middle East London WallflowerPress

Erdogan Nezih and Goumlktuumlrk Deniz (2001) lsquoTurkish Cinemarsquo in Oliver Leaman(ed) Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and Nortth African Films LondonRoutledge

Finkel Caroline (2006) Osmanrsquos Dream The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300ndash1923New York Basic Books

Guumlney Ayln (2008) lsquoAnti-Americanism in Turkey past and presentrsquo MiddleEastern Studies 44 3 pp 471ndash487

Hayward Susan (2000) Cinema Studies The Key Concepts Suffolk Routeldge

Hoffman Frank G (2005) lsquoThe US Marine Corps in Reviewrsquo US Naval InstituteProceedings 131 (5)

Huumlrriyet (2006) lsquoldquoValley of the Wolves-Iraqrdquo makes waves in US pressrsquo 16 February

Ibrahim Ibrahim (ed) (1992) The Gulf Crisis Background and ConsequencesWashington DC Center for Contemporary Arab Studies

Idiz Semih (2006) lsquoBrace yourself America Polat is on the wayrsquo Turkish Daily

News 26 January

Letsch Constanze (2006) lsquoDialog der Kulturenrsquo Jungle World 8 23 httpjungle-worldcomartikel20060816968html Accessed 14 August 2008

Liel Alon (2001) Turkey in the Middle East Oil Islam and Politics (trans EmanuelLottem) Colorado Lynne Rienner Publishers

Murray Ben (2006) lsquoTroops are urged to avoid theatres with Turkish filmrsquo Starsand Stripes 7 February httpwwwestripescomarticleaspsection=104amparticle=34008amparchive=true Accessed 20 August 2008

Pasha Djemal (1922) Memories of a Turkish Statesman 1913ndash1919 LondonGeorge H Doran

Pew Global Attitudes Project (2006) lsquoNo Global Warming Alarm in the USChina America lsquos Image Slips But Allies Share US Concerns Over IranHamasrsquo 13 June

Safak Elif (2006) lsquoValley of the Wolves and the Politics of Masculinityrsquo 19February httpwwwelifsafakusyazilaraspislem=yaziampid=379 Accessed13 August 2008

Schleifer Yigal (2005) lsquoSure itrsquos fiction But many turks see fact in anti-US novelrsquoThe Christian Science Monitor 15 February

lsquoTurkey Warns of Lengthy Iraq Warrsquo (2002) Associated Press 21 July

Turkish Daily News (2003) 10 January

mdashmdashmdash (2006) lsquoGuumll sees no harm to US ties as Turks flock to see Iraq moviersquo6 February

mdashmdashmdash (2006) lsquoTurkish Makers of Iraq War Film Reject anti-Americanismrsquo 4 March

mdashmdashmdash (2007) lsquoAppointment opens an old woundrsquo 6 January

Widmer Ted (2005) lsquoDeath to the crusadersquo New York Times 18 September

Suggested citationAl-Rawi A (2009) lsquoValley of the Wolves as representative of Turkish popular

attitudes towards Iraqrsquo International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies 3 1pp 75ndash84 doi 101386ijcis31751

refusing to perform ahumiliating actionand Crash (PaulHaggis 2005) inwhich a Persiancharacter insists that he is Iranian not Arab after hisstore is ransacked and burglarized



Contributor detailsAhmed Khalid Al-Rawi PhD is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of EnglishLanguage Majan University College Oman where he teaches English and com-munication His research interests are mainly related to the relation between poli-tics and literature comparative literature folklore history and Orientalism He haspublished articles in several journals including Arab Studies Quarterly John BuchanJournal Folklore Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History and book chapters suchas lsquoIslam and the East in John Buchanrsquos Novelsrsquo in Reassessing John Buchan Beyondthe 39 Steps (forthcoming London Pickering amp Chatto Publishers) ContactDepartment of English Language Majan University College PO Box 710 PostalCode 112 Muscat Sultanate of OmanE-mail aa438leacuk



Demirkubuz 2006) and Adamrsquos Trains [Ademrsquoin Trenleri] (Baris Pirhasan2007) (Deniz and Akkaya Sundays Zaman)

After 1980 Turkish cinema experienced exceptional decline Audiencescame to prefer Hollywood to Turkish films as the latter was increasinglydevoid of popular appeal In 1986 the Turkish Ministry of Culture sensingthe danger of such decline intervened to support Turkish cinema in variousoften novel ways (Hayward 2000 436) Turkish directors were compelledto adapt to market imperatives through utilization and dependence onnew Western technologies This enabled them to produce hybrid genre films(usually of the actionndashsuspense variety) as well as to tackle sensitive themesof public concern including unofficial government practices migrationand the Kurdish question Ironically such themes were addressed moreopenly than ever as freedom of expression had come to be encouraged inconjunction with Turkish efforts to rapproche European Union standards(Ayliffe et al 2003 1055)

More recently a post-Yesilccedilam cinema has emerged in which high-budget commercial successes have been produced These include Vizontele(Yılmaz ErdoganOumlmer Faruk Sorak 2001) starring Yılmaz ErdoganGORA (Sorak 2007) starring Cem Yılmaz Vizontele Tuuba (the sequel toVizontele) (Erdogan 2004) and Valley of the Wolves (Serdar Akar 2006)This blockbuster aspect notwithstanding the lsquotrendsrsquo characteristic ofpost-Yesilccedilam cinema since the 1980s (Doumlnmez-Colin 2006 119) havelargely been associated with particular directors ndash what Erdogan andGoumlktuumlrk refer to as auteurism (536) ndash thus rendering the new developmentimprecise and disunified

Of the big-budget films Valley of the Wolves is noteworthy for its focuson the continuing conflict between Islam and the West its projection ofdesire for understanding between those ostensible adversaries and for anationally unified Turkish government that can embrace all religious andethnic groups within the country Hence its thematic roots are locatableto 1960s Yesilccedilam which emphasized the importance of a strong govern-ment capable of protecting its citizens both inside and outside geographi-cal borders in a way that would safeguard the dignity of all Turks In thewake of the filmrsquos success The Masked Five in Iraq (2007) was released Itportrays a gang of Turks who dupe United States officers stationed in Iraqin order to secure Iraqi oil resources thus capitalizing upon the range ofpatriotic feeling evoked by Valley of the Wolves A third film in this veritablesub-genre yet more nostalgic in tone is The Last Ottoman (2007) whichconcerns the heroism of an Ottoman soldier during the latter part of theFirst World War (Butler Turkish Daily News)

Background to Valley of the WolvesIn 2004 a novel entitled Metal Storm [Metal Firtina] was published inTurkey Co-authored by science-fiction writer Orkun Ucar and journalistBurak Turna Metal Storm was especially popular among Turkish militaryForeign Ministry and Cabinet personnel Its story is set in (a future) 2007as US forces invade Turkey from neighbouring Iraq and destroy thecountry in ways that recall the 2003 US invasion of Iraq Following thefictional 2007 invasion the US attempts to divide Turkey among its his-torical adversaries Greece and Armenia and establish a Kurdish state














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Valley of the Wolves as representative of Turkish popular attitudes towards Iraq

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