Who are the highest-paid stars in Turkey?

As production costs in the Turkish film industry continue to rise, many series are being taken off the air shortly after release if their ratings are low. Experts point to production costs, particularly the high fees of lead actors and actresses, as the main reason for this.

According to Gzt.com, Kenan Imirzalioglu became Turkey's highest-paid actor in 2026. He received a fee of 4.5 million Turkish liras (approximately $95,700 USD) per episode for the series "Family is a Trial." Since the first season of the series consisted of 18 episodes, the actor's total income exceeded 80 million liras.

Kivanc Tatlitug took the second spot in the ranking. He was set to receive 4 million liras ($85,000 USD) per episode for the planned series "Tropics." However, the project has not yet started. The reason cited is that a suitable actress to star alongside Kivanc has not been found.

According to the Haberler publication, Cagatay Ulusoy is in third place. He earned 3.5 million liras ($74,000–$75,000 USD) per episode for his role in the series "Ashraf and Ruya."

Among actresses, Afra Saracoglu is in the lead. She received a fee of 2.5 million liras ($53,000 USD) per episode.

Following her is Demet Ozdemir, whose income per episode amounted to 2 million liras ($42,500 USD).