Bir Zamanlar Çukurova (World-wide English Title “Bitter Land”) is a new TV series of Turkish televisions. The TV series has started to its broadcast life in ATV on the 13th of September, 2018. During the 35 episodes in the 1st season, the TV series made a great job according to the ratings!
Bir Zamanlar Çukurova -Bitter Land- gave a break with the 35th episode and made its season finale on the 30th of May, 2019. Since then, audiences are longing for the new season, which will most probably begin in September 2019. The TV series is also known as Once Upon A Time in Cukurova.
Master Players and Young Talents are together in Bir Zamanlar Çukurova – Bitter Lands
Synopsis of Bir Zamanlar Çukurova – Bitter Lands
The story of Bir Zamanlar Çukurova –Bitter Lands– begins in Istanbul in the 1970s and continues in the fertile lands of Cukurova, Adana. Adana, by the way, is a city of in the south-west of Turkey).
A young couple who dreams of marriage hide their identity to escape from the darkness and fear. For this purpose, one day they escape from Istanbul to Adana. The couple will introduce themselves as a sibling and work on a farm in Adana. However, Demir, the owner of the farm, will fall in love with Züleyha. Whereupon, the real story of the Turkish drama begins.
In order to be able to understand the story better, we must dig right in the characters. The main characters of the tv series are Vahide Perçin (acted as Hünkar Yaman), Uğur Güneş (acted as Yılmaz Akkaya), Murat Ünalmış (acted as Demir Yaman) and Hilal Altınbilek (acted as Züleyha). The story revolves around these 4 characters.
Züleyha (played by Hilal Altınbilek) and Yılmaz (played by Uğur Güneş) in Bir Zamanlar Çukurova – Bitter Lands
The Fate of Yılmaz and Züleyha in the Drama
Züleyha (played by Hilal Altınbilek) is a young and beautiful girl who lives in Istanbul together with her step-brother Veli (played by Mustafa Açılan) and her sister-in-law. She works as a tailor in a well-known district in Istanbul. One and only dream of Züleyha is to marry to her precious lover Yılmaz (played by Uğur Güneş).
Yılmaz, on the other hand, is a hardworking young man who works as a car mechanic. He has been raised by his master after his family passed away very long ago. So, he grew up as an orphan. Yılmaz does not have a wealthy life, but he can do anything to make his lover Züleyha blessed and joyful.
Bir Zamanlar Çukurova – Bitter Lands is a fastmoving Turkish drama
Here is The Question of Bir Zamanlar Çukurova – Bitter Lands: Is Love Really Bigger Than Life?
Züleyha and Yılmaz want to marry as soon as possible and sail their own life together by opening a new page. However, things don’t go well as they expect and they become the victims of their destiny.
Züleyha’s step-brother Veli sells his sister to a crime boss in order to pay back his gambling debts. Züleyha fells into that trap due to the cruelty of her own family, with total blindness of this fact. Yılmaz, on the other hand, commits murder and kill the crime boss just in order to get rid of this crime circle with her beloved lover.
Yılmaz, after this tragedy, has nothing to do but run away from Istanbul to survive. He wants to leave Züleyha to the custody of his master, but Züleyha does not intend to leave the man she loves more than anything. Hence, Yılmaz and Züleyha leave everything behind, including their hopes, dreams and the city they live and start on a vital escape journey!
Crossing Roads and Crossing Lifes of Bitter Land’s – Bir Zamanlar Çukurova
Yılmaz and Züleyha find themselves in Adana (a city in the south-west of Turkey) at the end of the vital journey. They try to find jobs and earn money while they are trying to keep their identity secret. Out of a pure coincidence, Yılmaz comes across to one of his friends from the military service and end up on the fertile lands of Yaman’s family farm. Finally, escaper lovers start working at Yaman Family farm and introduce themselves as siblings in order not to be separated from each other.
Demir, played by Murat Ünalmış in Bir Zamanlar Çukurova – Bitter Lands
The farm of Demir Yaman (played by Murat Ünalmış) is a well-known farm in Adana which possesses fruitful and vast lands. The landowner Demir Yaman is a young, handsome and charismatic man, who has studied in Berlin, Germany. Demir is not only known as a young and handsome man, but he is also known as a passionate man who aims to bring mechanization in agriculture. By doing processing his clever prediction on technology, his father’s wish to become the most powerful man in Adana come true.
Demir lives together with his mother Hünkar Yaman (played by Vahide Perçin). After divorce, he closes the book of marriage and love, so all the romance. Demir pays all his attention to his work and tries to make his lands more productive. However, things do not go as expected once more. Demir’s life changes dramatically after meeting Züleyha.
Hünkar, played by Vahide Perçin in Bir Zamanlar Çukurova – Bitter Lands
Demir’s Desperate and Terrifying Love for Züleyha
Züleyha blows Demir’s mind at the first meeting. Demir develops some feeling towards her without knowing that she is in love with another man. Not only the life of runaway lovers but also the life of Yaman farm turn upside down all of a sudden. One hand, there is Hünkar (played by Vahide Perçin) who can do anything to protect and maintain her son’s unquestionable dominance over the fertile lands. Her family has owned this land for centuries. But on the other hand, there is Yılmaz who can even kill someone for the sake of his love.
Kerem Alışık acted as Fekeli in Bir Zamanlar Çukurova – Bitter Lands
In Bir Zamanlar Çukurova -Bitter Lands- TV series story, a legendary love of Yılmaz and Züleyha is waiting for you to watch. As you can see, the story is like a bloody battleship. There are so many questions and curiosity on the air. All obstacles for the legendary love of Züleyha and Yılmaz, Demir’s endless efforts to gain Zeliha’s heart, struggles of Yılmaz to keep his identity secret and protect the woman he loves,… This is a battlefield and either everyone will win or lose!
Spoiler Alert! What Happened in the Season Finale of Bir Zamanlar Çukurova – Bitter Lands
Please be aware that the lines you are about to read under this title contain spoilers for those who haven’t watched yet. Bir Zamalar Çukurova –Bitter Lands– made season finale with the 35th episode. The season finale was very tense. Züleyha is pregnant, but Demir doesn’t accept this pregnancy because he doesn’t believe the baby his own. On the other hand, Yılmaz is also getting married to erase the memory of Züleyha from his mind. Moreover, he is confused about whether the baby from him or not.
So, will his feelings for Züleyha and the confusion about baby prevent him from the marriage? What will happen with the confrontation of Demir and Yılmaz? What was the gunshot which came from Demir and Züleyha’s room? In order to find all those questions’ answers, get ready for the new season! What’s more, stay tuned for our new article on Bir Zamanlar Çukurova – Bitter Lands!
Main Details of Bir Zamanlar Çukurova -Bitter Lands-
- Genre: Drama, Romance
- Broadcast Network: Atv Channel
- Production Company: Tims&B Production
- Director: Murat Saraçoğlu, Faruk Teber
- Screen Writer (s): Su Ersöz, Derem Ciray, Yıldız Tunç
Where Can I Watch Bir Zamanlar Çukurova -“Bitter Lands”-
As we mentioned before, the TV series is aired every Thursday on Atv at 20:00 Istanbul Time. You watch it here ⇒ Atv/Bir Zamanlar Çukurova. In addition to the official channel, you can also watch the TV series through its official Youtube channel/Bir Zamanlar Çukurova.
For social media accounts of the series;
We hope you all enjoyed our article and the TV series, too. Please feel free to ask us anything you wonder about Turkey!
Hilal Altınbilek acted as Züleyha in Bir Zamanlar Çukurova – Bitter Lands
Plus: A Gossip On The Set!
Is there love between Kerem Alışık, one of the successful actors of the series, who acts as Ali Rahmet Fekeli and Züleyha (played by Hilal Altınbilek)? This is the frequently asked question on the set of Bir Zamanlar Çukurova -Bitter Lands-. Both Kerem Alışık (58) and Hilal Altınbilek (27) denied these rumours. So time will show the truth!
i so much enjoyed reading about bir zamanlar cukurova i love the series thank you for the information
Hi Bahar,
Thank you so much for your lovely comment and interest. Please keep following us for more content like this :)
Herkese merhaba !
Umarım hepiniz iyisinizdir.
Zaten bildiğiniz gibi Hünkar öldü ama korkmuyordu zuleyha onun yerini alıyor. Umarım seni çok özlememiştir .. bir hünkar tabii ki. Ve hatta fekeli ile hünkar arasındaki aşk hikayesinin biraz üzücü olduğunu görüyorum :( Hünkar onu terk et. Ama hey, hepinizi seviyorum, bu sefer covid 19 yüzünden herkese öpücük diyemem ama dikkatli olun ve yapma ‘ Sağlığınız için fazla dışarı çıkmayın.
Hepinizi seviyorum.
Vahide percin
Merhaba Eray
Umarım sen de iyisindir
Bu yazılar için teşekkür ederim ama sizi temin ederim ki fekeli bana zuleyha ile ihanet edemez! Hayır ama gerçekten bu sefer seni temin ederim ki hilal ile kerem arasında hiçbir şey yok ve görünüşleri bile sadece basit ve işte hepsi burada
eğitimdeki ve seriyi özetleyen yardımınız için teşekkür ederim
I’m watcing the serial “Bitter Lands,last one I watch EPISODE 111.One thig though : about the children of the serial,some dissapeared totally (one is a little girl belonging to the female cook of Fekeli’s houshold,another is late Mujgiar’s little baby ),also ,for the last 10 episodes, Garfur’s little girl as well.By the way,even Zuleyha’s children doesn’t seem to grow. Generally speaking it’s an interesting serial.Mashallah.