Beyoglu: The Heart of Istanbul, Even Turkey
Beyoglu is like a collection album of many voices; old and new, dim and loud. These are the voices of people coming from various cultural, social and political stands. These are the voices of history and present; sometimes in collaboration, sometimes in opposition but always in interaction.
As old as the city itself
The history of Beyoglu draws back to the early Byzantine Era. During the thirteenth century the Genoans used Beyoglu as a center of trade. They settled in Galata, which is the lower side of Beyoglu and built the earliest settlements there.
After the Ottomans came in power later in the fifteenth century, starting with the Greeks, many groups from different parts of the Empire, and mostly from the Western parts chose Pera (the former name for Beyoglu) as their living space.
This was initially the result of the Empire policies for minorities but later as it became a cosmopolite space it followed a pattern of its own. Each group built its own ritual place, brought its own traditions and culture; which slowly created the picture we see today.
Some of the languages said to be spoken in Beyoglu during the eighteenth century are Ottoman Turkish, Greek, Hebrew, Armenian, Arabic, English, French and Hungarian. Some of these languages and others such as Kurdish can also be heard today.
As time went on, Beyoglu continued to attract the attention of many foreigners, mostly Europeans. The embassies of most European countries, which were built here, then are still working today.
By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the place had turned into an important center of commercial and cultural exchange. Many of the people of Beyoglu considered themselves and were considered to be the intellectuals who took part in the production of arts and knowledge.
The French and the German opened up high schools here for the young Turkish generation based on their own model of education and they continue to give education today.
It was a place of many firsts. Many European goods were being distributed from here. The first cinema hall was opened here. Greeks founded the oldest sport club of the country 117 years ago here. The first underground tunnel was built here.
Going to Beyoglu: A sign of being modern
In the second half of nineteenth century, many young Ottomans mostly from the elite class who defended and enjoyed the Western life style had also joined the people here.
They discussed the future of the country; argued on different subjects. Men and women showed up on the streets of Beyoglu with their new look. This also continued to be the case in the early Republican era. But having become a symbol of everything that the Western life and modernization stood for, Beyoglu had a twofold image.
Some saw it as what ought to be the future of Turkey, the window into the Western civilization. Some saw in this place a pretentious Westernization that had a corrupting influence contradicting their morals.
Many writers and artists of the time have dwelled upon this ironic image of Beyoglu in their works. Peyami Safa, a well-known writer of the early Republican era was going to choose Beyoglu and Fatih to represent two clashing worlds and to tell about what he saw as the problems of Westernization in Turkey.
This is significant in understanding what made Beyoglu such an important and unique place in the late Ottoman and early Republican period as well as what still makes Beyoglu a unique place today.
Today, Beyoglu has gone through many changes. As other parts of Istanbul started to develop, Beyoglu's commercial scene and high-class customers began to fade away and gradually Beyoglu changed into a town that offered a place to everyone and anyone.
However, the many voices still continue to exist; perhaps this time with a much wider scope than before with the voice of homosexuals and transsexuals who try to challenge the heterosexual norms, immigrants, mostly black, who struggle to live without a passport and sometimes without an identity and voice of street children and the poor who are only a street away from the main road. Beyoglu is a place where one street away could mean a whole world away.
An open space for free expression of differences
Only streets away from each other are the ritual places of every religion; the Aga Mosque, Aya Andrea Catholic Church and Neva Shalom synagogue that recently became the spot for violence attacks are only a few examples.
And in between them are the nightclubs that play until the morning. There are few places in Istanbul and in the world in general where the nightclubs and the ritual places stand next to each other and it definitely makes an interesting picture.
Looking over the eighty years of the Republic, one can say it is here that the definition of "normal" has been questioned and normalized values of every-day life have been put on the stand.
In the 70s it was the leftist generation that marched on the long pedestrian street, in the late 90s it was the Relative of the Disappeared (Saturday Mothers/ Saturday People) who protested the loss of their beloved ones during the war in the South East; and in the first years of the twenty-first century it was the anti-war activists who said no to war in Iraq and finally it was thousands of ordinary people who saluted the victims killed in the terrorist attacks of November 20, 2003 who filled the streets.
There are also the more permanent initiatives to take part in social change; such as the political parties and NGOs. Almost all political parties and many of the leading groups of civil society in Turkey have offices here.
Then there are the less formal but as powerful efforts present such as the women have created themselves a space of their own in the downside part of Beyoglu, where they established a feminist press house, turned cooking into a source of life earning in cafes and set up places for political and cultural activities.
This dynamic scene and the urge to create an alternative space where one has the chance to explore and let go has a special meaning for the young people who come to Beyoglu. It is where they shape their worldview and identity even. They step in the "political" sphere sometimes willingly sometimes unwillingly when passing by a demonstration. They are able to take a step back from life and express themselves without the boundaries; more so at nights.
Beyoglu is as dynamic at night as it is in daytime and it is not only the young who choose here to go out. The cash flow from the entertainment sector has increased living standards for many club owners in Beyoglu and has not made a single difference to the poor who live just one floor up.
A motto such as "the fun must go on" could be very closely associated with the Beyoglu scenes. It has become the heart of every style of entertainment from jazz to rock, from folksongs to electronic music. And not surprisingly people with money to spend brought in the thieves as well as the drug dealers with them.
Beyoglu is one of the few towns that never sleeps and is alive at any time of the year not only in terms of its night scenes but also and perhaps even more so in terms of its cultural scenes. The cultural scene has grown huge since the opening up of that first cinema hall in the 1800s.
Today, numerous art galleries and some of the oldest and most inspiring theaters are situated here. It has been a meeting place of artists and writers for a long time; and not only a meeting place but a place where they produce their work and take and give inspiration.
The heart of Turkish cinema, known as Yesilcam, was here for a long time until the 80s. The international Istanbul film festival took start here several years ago with work of Istanbul Foundation of Arts and Culture; also located here.
Beyoglu does not only witness political demonstrations but also art gatherings and festival marches where hundreds of people just walk to the rhythms of the music. Young and old almost every artist tries her/his chances here because it offers a dynamic environment where one can find many people trying to create something.
A long parallel line of historical buildings with high ceilings and joint walls made of stone and wood; interrupted by concrete business centers and expensive malls... A tram passes through carrying many different voices; together some silent, some struggling to stand up and some loud.
I could say Beyoglu is the closest we could get to realizing a practical model of peace, of being able to live together where every voice has a chance to create its own space and to think and create its own definition of how to live a good life. (IO/NM)