Ramadan is the holiest month for Muslims and will begin this year in Turkey with the evening prayer June 17. The first day of fasting will be June 18 and Eid-al-Fitr, the three-day holiday marking the end of Ramadan, will start July 17.

Ramadan is the Arab world's most important month for TV programming, and the TV networks' battle to provide the most popular Ramadan TV show is now taking place behind closed doors. Almost all TV networks in Turkey have revised their daytime and evening programming for the Ramadan season. Some TV networks have started publicizing their Ramadan programming schedule.

Al-Monitor spoke with a seasoned Ramadan TV program producer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing his job, about these shows. He said, “For years in the media there has been a subtle struggle between the suit-and-tie preachers and religious garb, turban-wearing preachers. Suit-and-tie preachers are frequently senior professors of theology, while [those wearing religious garb] are preachers by training and may be leaders of certain religious orders. The latter resent the strong interest from major TV networks for populist scholars. Still, the most popular Ramadan TV show is the one with highly paid professor Nihat Hatipoglu. Last year the exorbitant salary and the bidding wars for his contract with ATV caused an uproar on social media. This year Hatipoglu has signed [a contract] with the same TV channel."

Hatipoglu appears in iftar (breaking of the fast at sunset) and sahur (breakfast eaten prior to sunrise) programs before a live audience. The provocative and sometimes bizarre questions the audience asks him are said to be the main reason for the show's high viewer ratings. Some of the questions asked include: “I eloped with the girl I love, but then I took her back to her family because we decided to ask permission for the marriage. They refused. How can I make them believe it is not a sacrilege?”; “They say it is a sin to bathe your child on a Wednesday, is that true?”; “Is there a special hour for a curse to be most effective?"; “Is it acceptable to have sex with my husband’s uncle?”; and “I pray to be with my beloved, while he is praying to be with his. Now whose prayer will be answered?”