Çukur

''Çukur'' () is a Turkish action, drama and crime thriller television series produced by Ay Yapım, directed by Sinan Öztürk and written by Gökhan Horzum and Damla Serim. It premiered on 23 October 2017 and concluded on 7 June 2021 with a total of 131 episodes (four seasons).

Plot

The Koçovalı family is in control of Çukur, the crime-ridden neighborhood of Istanbul. Despite being so involved in crime, the family has its own rules. One of these rules is the prohibition of drugs. No drugs are produced, used or sold in Çukur. But the groups that are new to the game try to break the ban.

Filming

Çukur is shot in the Balat district of Istanbul's Fatih district. Some scenes of the first and second episodes of the first season were shot in Paris, the capital of France, and some scenes of the third season were shot in Berlin, the capital of Germany. After the series ended, in 2022, a fire broke out in the building of the coffee house where the series was shot.

Cast

Soundtracks

Series overview

International broadcasting

* on Gem TV since 2019 as . Dubbed to Persian.
* on Kana TV since 2019 as .
* on beIN Drama since 2019 as . Dubbed to Arabic.
* South Africa in Eextra since 2022 as Die Put.
* on Nova BH since 2022 as Jama.
* Serbia on Nova S on TV Klan since November 2022.
* Romania on Happy Channel since January 9th 2019 as Legea Familiei.

Bookmaking

Gökhan Horzum, the screenwriter of the series, published a book about the first season of the series called ''Yamaç's Return - Çukur'' in October 2019. The cover design of the book was made by Serçin Çabuk and Banu Üstündağ Hatip.

Reviews

''Çukur'' has a story that reduces the neighborhood to a bad image (pit), unlike the Turkish TV series of the 2000s that deal with the neighborhood culture. Nurdan Gürbilek commented on "family, masculinity and the mafia series" by devoting a separate section to the line in his work titled Second Life. In the series, first the hero leaves the house and then returns to the threatened neighborhood as a savior. Gürbilek interprets this as a classic return story and evaluates it as a popular version of the "man returning home" narrative. According to him, the music of the TV series (mainly the songs of Gazapizm and Eypio) that integrates with the scenes of violence are rap pieces that have been converted into close combat music. In the series, the name of the struggle of the heirs (self and stepchildren) created by the father's image and the fall of the father is "brothers' fight". On the other hand, those under the command of Baba (Idris et al.) and the neighborhood leader (Yamaç et al.), who stand out as the saviors and protectors of the poor (neighbourhood), are "fatherless children". According to Gürbilek, the neighborhood is seen as a "liberated space" and the reality of despair connects people to the order of fatherhood and masculinity (neighborhood).

Complaints

Since its publication, ''Çukur'' has been among the most complained about works on TV. Due to scenes of armed conflict, fear, violence and torture, RTÜK imposed an administrative fine on the channel on which the TV series was broadcast. Ercan Kesal, who took part in the increasing complaints for two seasons in ''Çukur'', replied, "When you compare the violence issue in ''Çukur'' with the violence in daily life, it is much more innocent."

Symbol

The symbol of this series and the neighborhood of Çukur is <•••>, which is tattooed on the bodies of the members of the neighborhood in the series and engraved on the walls of the neighborhood of Çukur as well as countries where the series is very popular. In the series, the concept of the symbol is defined as follows: the upper arrow means the roof, when a person is in trouble, he can go to the neighborhood and knock on the door of a house and show them the tattoo so that house can shelter him. The first point means the family within the house (father, mother, brother, sister), the second point means the family within the neighborhood, which includes neighbors, friends and partners, the third point means the Koçovalı family. They will protect Çukur when needed and Çukur will protect them when needed. The lower arrow also means a pit. The general meaning of the symbol is that as long as there is a roof above us and a pit below us with our family in between, there is no death for us in this world.

See also

*İçerde
* Üç Kuruş

References

External links

*
Çukur
' on Show TV
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cukur
2017 Turkish television series debuts
2021 Turkish television series endings
Turkish action television series
Television series by Ay Yapım
Television shows set in Paris
Show TV television dramas
Turkish television soap operas
Turkish-language television shows