My Big Fat Turkish Groom, Greek Bride Wedding (marriage, Christian)

[Djamila]

Last year, the Survivor franchise that began in the Netherlands and spread around the world made its way to the Aegean.

20 Turks and Greeks were dropped on a deserted island together, vying against each other to come out on top. Given the political situation between the two countries, it was no surprise the relationship between the contestants was tense.

"Survivor" certainly doesn't shy from confronting some of the old animosities that remain, airing footage of the Greek and Turkish contestants verbally sparring and saying inflammatory things about each other. In one segment, a Greek contestant is asked how he felt about getting on a boat with the group of Turks. "I felt like throwing them into the sea," was his undiplomatic answer.

But it had an unexpected effect.

And "Survivor" is only the latest show to turn the Turkish-Greek conflict into ratings gold. Now in its third season, a Turkish soap opera called "Yabanci Damat" (The Foreign Groom), which tells the story of a Greek boy who marries a Turkish girl, has been a smash hit since it hit the airwaves.

Two summers ago, a private Greek channel called Mega TV started broadcasting the first season of "Yabanci Damat,"and the show drew record audiences. Newspapers and magazines began filling their pages with breathless stories about the lives of the series' stars. The show's Turkish stars were even made honorary citizens of a Greek island where part of the series was shot.

And now one of the highlights of the Aegean edition of Survivor has taken another turn.

Nadia, a Greek woman, and Selim, a Turkish man, who fell in love while filming survivor have announced their engagement - the first significant, public marriage between a Turk and a Greek in recent memory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heK8ZsGRKRM

[Djamila]

Oops, forgot, the quotes are from a Christian Science Monitor article:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1214/p01s02-woeu.html