After my short trip to Tarlabaşı in the unbearably cold winter days; Towards the end of June, this time I had an adventure in Tarlabaşı for about a month.
It is more accurate to say experience because everyone who says they have been to Istanbul, visited at least one day in Tarlabaşı. I wish you a good time. The area to the right of the direction stretching from Taksim Square to Tarlabaşı Boulevard and the Golden Horn forms Tarlabaşı.. An urban transformation project under the leadership of the municipality under the name of “Historical Tarlabaşı Project” has been initiated in the region within the borders of Beyoğlu district.. The aim of the project is to restore the old Greek and Armenian houses by staying true to their originals.. With the echoes of the project, a few entrepreneurs have already restored and rented out the buildings they bought.. According to rumors, famous people are not content with buying buildings but even buying streets.
There is life for 24 hours, movement Tarlabaşı is a place where it is not missing. In the district defined by prejudices as the transvestite, thief, and sinister district, there is everyone related to the Istanbul mosaic.. It contains many differences, from transvestites to Kurds, from Old Istanbulites to Alevis, from our citizens who have immigrated from the East to high-level businessmen.
I had the chance to observe the subtleties of street life since I came to Tarlabaşı in the winter season. had not been. This time from children playing on the streets until 2 am; I lived in the heart of the street, until the mentally ill citizens.
While my friend’s work during the day and the added hot weather increased the hours I spent at home; the bay window of the house was one of the elements that connected me to life.. On the second day of my return home, I developed intimacy with an old aunt sitting across from me.. This woman, who is clear in every way that she needs to talk; He was busy sitting on the balcony from 5 in the morning until midnight.. Türkan Hanım, who knew everyone in the neighborhood closely, was one of the so-called Old Istanbul residents.
The past and present state of the neighborhood He was able to make impartial assessments because he had the opportunity to compare.. He was emphasizing his longing for the old Istanbul, saying, “There are no people left here”.. It was not unfair. It was unfair to sit in line with a crowd who threw their food and drink in the middle of the street or had a grill in the middle of the street.. If Beyoğlu Municipality did not have regular garbage collection activities, it would have been inevitable that the streets would not be able to walk through the garbage
Remarkable characters appeared in the different mosaics of the neighborhood.. Since it was not possible to sleep from the noise that existed from midnight until the early hours of the morning, we could inevitably have character analyzes while watching out from the bay window. The 45-50 year old woman, whom we learned to be Deniz, was one of the most interesting of these characters.. Deniz was one of the most beautiful women in Tarlabasi at the time.. The bitterness she felt on her face after she cheated on her husband made the left side of her head invisible.. A part of her hair was thus lost.. This woman, who came out screaming from her house when the clocks showed 03.21, would be disturbed by the filth of the neighborhood and the streets, that she started to collect all the garbage on the street with screams and curses in this time zone she set for herself.
On her feet. She is a person who does not go unnoticed with her always found high-heeled shoes, the tight, shiny pink trousers she wears underneath, and the underwear that is never in her.. Especially not to mention the image that appears when he bends while picking up the garbage.. This woman, who is the spiritual mother of all the cats on the street, takes the cats in her arms and hugs them and says, “If you have a child, you wouldn’t hug like this.”. Maybe he found the emotions he was missing in cats over time.. Deniz, who did not keep her watch for about a week, registered herself for the day shift after a while.. Actually, I was very upset that I couldn’t see the woman I followed every night at 03:21 on the digital clock.. In the morning “He… His children; If you pollute it, I will collect it again, don’t throw it away, trying to harm the cats that have an important place in Deniz’s life, who went out to collect garbage, would require people to deal with Deniz.. Unaware of this event, the immigrant children living in makeshift, ruined houses made a game of throwing stones at the cats and kicking them.. When Deniz, who was busy collecting garbage, noticed this attack against the cats, he started to throw the empty glass bottle he found on the ground by saying “Hello mom…”. We were more or less aware of what would happen with me, who was watching the events from the bay window, and with Türkan Aunt, who was watching on her balcony.. Deniz Hanım, who could never focus on her work, was unable to send the bottle to her destination.. Deniz, who thought to scare the child by throwing the glass bottle, did not succeed.. Things got out of hand when the glass bottle landed directly on the eyebrow of a passing woman.. The curses we used to hear flew into the air with the eyebrow that started to bleed.. The woman whose eyebrow was bleeding said, “He… where are you going, take me to the hospital”; Deniz’s innocent but painful face was heard saying, “I didn’t do it on purpose.”. Aunt Türkan’s comment on this event, which raised the whole neighborhood, was admirable.. “Free theater!” Even when he said, “Son, you will always watch like this, you will not come close”, hate was pouring out of his face.. After Deniz fled to her house, the angry crowd slowly dispersed.
Tarlabaşı life was continuing to live from within…
