The shooting of the Netflix documentary titled Ottoman Rising, which chronicles the rise of the Ottoman Empire, started in Yedikule Hisarı. The events that took place in the process until the beginning of the shooting caused Netflix to experience a minor crisis in our country. In the crisis, bureaucrats came face to face and even the museum director was dismissed.
Information on the subject states that the crisis started with the arrival of the production teams. According to the information received, the production team had completed the necessary procedures with the Hisarlar Museum Directorate on April 8, but due to the differences in opinion between the Istanbul Culture and Tourism Provincial Directorate and the Hisarlar Museum Directorate, the payment could not be made. It turned out that this fee, which should have been paid before the shooting, was paid 4 days after the shooting started.
What happened between the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism and the Hisarlar Museum Directorate was not limited to this. With the permission of the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, the production team started to work on clearing the weeds in the area before shooting. The museum director, who stated that these studies were beyond his knowledge, took the matter to both the Ministry of Culture and the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. While the museum director Süleyman Faruk Göncüoğlu was on leave, the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism requested the keys of Yedikule Fortress from the person who was acting as the director. The key was given in exchange for the minutes. Returning to his duty, Göncüoğlu wrote a petition to the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism to get these keys again. In the written petition, it was stated that it was not known what happened in the fort during the period when the keys were taken, and that the keys had to be delivered again.
After these developments, a security problem arose. The production team had stated that filming would take 24 hours, and the authorities did not know how to ensure security at this point. While the Hisarlar Museum Directorate, which wrote to the Ministry of Culture on the subject, was waiting for an answer, Göncüoğlu was called by the Istanbul Culture and Tourism Provincial Director, and it was reported that the shooting had begun.
As a result of all these events, Istanbul Hisarlar Museum Director Göncüoğlu was dismissed. It was announced by the Ministry that Göncüoğlu was assigned to the Turkish Manuscripts Library. Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism of Istanbul made statements on the subject and it was stated that the Directorate of Hisarlar Museum is affiliated to the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism of Istanbul.
