Çukur (transl. "The Pit") 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.[1][2][3] It premiered on 23 October 2017 and concluded on 7 June 2021 with a total of 131 episodes (four seasons).[4][5]
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.
Çukur is shot in the Balat district of Istanbul's Fatih district.[6] 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.[7][8] After the series ended, in 2022, a fire broke out in the building of the coffee house where the series was shot.
Iran on Gem TV since 2019 as Godal (گودال). Dubbed in Persian language.
Ethiopia on Kana TV since 2019 as የኛ ሰፈር (Amharic: የኛ ሰፈር, romanized: jɛɲä sɛfɛrɨ)
Arab world on beIN Drama since 2019 as Alhufra (الحفرة). Dubbed in Arabic language.
Bosnia and Herzegovina on Nova BH since 2022 as JamaGökhan Horzum, the screenwriter of the series, published a book about the first season of the series called Yamaç's Return - Çukur in October 2019.[9] The cover design of the book was made by Serçin Çabuk and Banu Üstündağ Hatip.
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).[10]
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.[11] 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."[12]
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.