Why did Money Trap: The Karun Treasure (Organize İşler: Karun Hazinesi) drop to 2.4 on IMDb, and what is the "kam drum" controversy?

Organize İşler: Karun Hazinesi, the continuation of Yılmaz Erdoğan's films Organize İşler (2005) and Organize İşler: Sazan Sarmalı (2019), premiered on Netflix on 16 October 2026 as an eight-episode series, as Netflix had announced on 6 October 2026; IMDb also lists the release date as 16 October 2026 (Türkiye) and records the English title as Money Trap: The Karun Treasure. Erdoğan returns as the con man Asım Noyan and also wrote the script; the cast includes Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ (Sarı Saruhan), Demet Akbağ, Ezgi Mola, Uraz Kaygılaroğlu, Rıza Kocaoğlu, Ersin Korkut, Bensu Soral (Nazlı Noyan), Şükran Ovalı and Görkem Sevindik. A week after release the series was being discussed less for its cast than for its IMDb score: according to Onedio's report of 20 October, a rating of about 5.7 in the first days fell first to 3.3 and then to 2.5. This page read the IMDb listing itself on 25 October 2026 at 20:27 Istanbul time: Karun Hazinesi stood at 2.4 with roughly 24,000 votes and 505 user reviews. At the same hour Organize İşler (2005) had 7.4 from 40,000 votes and Sazan Sarmalı (2019) 6.0 from 21,000. The series is by far the lowest-rated entry in the franchise.

What is in the kam drum scene?

The object at the centre of the backlash is the drum used in rituals by the kam, the religious practitioners of old Turkic belief. Haberler.com's report of 24 October describes the scene as the kam drum "being shown in the hands of groups dealing drugs"; Milli Gazete (20 October) writes that "an instrument resembling the drum used by kams in rituals" is used "like an ordinary musical instrument" in a setting associated with crime and drug trafficking; Sözcü (24 October) says it was "included in crime- and mafia-themed entertainment scenes". None of the reports reviewed says which episode the scene is in; this page has not watched the series and relays the scene only through these descriptions. According to Milli Gazete's explanation, in traditional belief the kam drum is not merely a rhythm instrument: the sun, moon, tree, bird and deer figures seen on some drums represent, in some Central Asian belief traditions, the relationship between sky, earth and spirits, though the paper also notes that not every drum carries the same symbols. Viewers split in two: one side saw the scene as disrespect for cultural values, the other argued that an object in a work of fiction cannot be read as a direct insult (Haberler.com 19 October, GZT 20 October).

How did the score fall, and why do sources give different numbers?

Onedio, GZT and Milli Gazete put the rating at 2.5 with more than 5,000 votes on 20 October; Sözcü said 2.3 on 21 October. In this page's measurement on 25 October the score was 2.4: between the more than 5,000 votes reported in the press and the 24,000 counted by this page, all three readings fell within 2.3–2.5. Two sets of figures also circulate for the earlier films: Onedio, GZT and Milli Gazete give the first film 7.4 and Sazan Sarmalı 6.0, while Sözcü wrote 6.9 and 6.1; IMDb's listing on 25 October showed 7.4 and 6.0. According to Onedio, the backlash was accompanied by social-media calls to give the series 1 star on IMDb; the same report says that among Erdoğan's productions with thousands of IMDb votes none is rated lower than Karun Hazinesi, and that even the next-lowest, Çok Filim Hareketler Bunlar, has 4.6 (this page has not verified that comparison). Milli Gazete's caveat matters: there is no firm data attributing the whole change in the score to the kam drum controversy. Whether the voting reflects an organised campaign or genuine audience reaction remains an open question in the sources; the sources reviewed contain no statement from IMDb on the matter.

The script criticism began before the backlash

According to Onedio's report of 20 October, the series was already drawing negative comments on platforms from Ekşi Sözlük to Beyazperde before the kam drum debate grew: viewers wrote that the story was needlessly stretched over eight episodes, that the early episodes repeated the previous films and that the pace sagged at times; some said the story would have flowed better as a film, others that they could not find the flavour of the first two films. Milli Gazete likewise relayed criticism of episode lengths and the story's progression. The praise centred on Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ's Sarı Saruhan and some of the jokes; according to Onedio, that praise was not enough to stop the slide.

Low rating, high interest

According to Onedio's second report of 20 October, Karun Hazinesi became the most popular Turkish series in IMDb Charts' real-time popularity data, with Seni Tanıyorum second and Gibi third. The report explains that this is not a contradiction: IMDb's popularity ranking is driven not by the rating but by attention to the title's page, and as the controversy grew, so did the traffic. Onedio's report of 23 October also says the series was the most-watched show of the week on Netflix Türkiye despite the low rating; because Netflix's official Top 10 page could not be read for this story, that remains an Onedio attribution.

What did Bensu Soral say?

According to Onedio's report of 23 October, Bensu Soral, who plays Nazlı Noyan, was asked by Gece Muhabiri. Asked whether the drop to 2.5 mattered, she said: "It doesn't matter at all. I won't get into those matters, but the work we did is, speaking for myself, work that satisfies me a lot." When the reporter noted that IMDb voting is open to manipulation, she replied: "Believe me, I know so little about those things… It is far outside me, whatever I say is pointless," adding: "Our job ends there, the rest doesn't concern me, I can't interfere with that." Asked whether the series would continue, she answered: "God willing, God willing, we would love to." In the same report Onedio writes that Netflix had not yet made an official announcement about a continuation; this page's search on 25 October found none either.

The X account claim and this page's check

Türkiye Gazetesi (24 October, 11:28) wrote that Yılmaz Erdoğan's X account had been "blocked from access" and "suspended"; Haberler.com (24 October, 11:14) reported that the account was suspended after the backlash and that no official explanation of the reason had been given; Sözcü (24 October, 11:41, updated 25 October) wrote that his "official X account" had been closed to access and that neither X's management nor Erdoğan's representatives had said whether the suspension followed mass complaints or another rule violation. None of the three names the account. This page checked on 25 October 2026 at 20:27 Istanbul time, in a rendered browser view from a server whose location was not recorded: the @yilmazerdogan profile, described as "managed by Yılmaz Erdoğan's social media team" and with about 3 million followers, was accessible, and its latest post was the series promotion dated 16 October. That check rules out none of three possibilities: the account may have been suspended and restored, the reports may have meant a different account, or access may be restricted from Türkiye; this page records only what it saw.

Known and unknown

Known: the series was released on 16 October with eight episodes (Netflix's 6 October announcement, IMDb release date); the IMDb rating on the evening of 25 October was 2.4 from 24,000 votes (this page's measurement); the earlier films stand at 7.4 and 6.0; the kam drum scene and the script's pacing are two separate lines of criticism; Bensu Soral's words are as quoted above. Unknown: which episode contains the scene; the position of Yılmaz Erdoğan and Netflix on the kam drum (Haberler.com 19 October, Milli Gazete 20 October and Onedio 23 October all note the absence of a statement, Haberler.com adding the production team; this page's search on 25 October found none); how much of the voting is the product of a campaign; what actually happened to the X account; Netflix's official viewing data and the decision on a second season. This story will be updated when Erdoğan or Netflix comments, when the IMDb score is read again and when a season decision is announced.