as one of the world’s great cities, writes Brendan Shanahan.
LIKE Rome or Cairo, Istanbul is one of the world’s eternal cities. For almost 2000 years – first as the capital of the Roman Empire, then as the centre of Byzantium and, finally, as the jewel of the Ottomans – it has sat on the Bosphorus straits, bridging Asia and Europe………….
This is just to say “Hello” to all authors and readers of Istanbul MetBlogs… I used to start writing here three years ago (exactly 1088 days), and after a long break, now I am back again…
I hope you would enjoy reading and commenting on my modest posts again…
the Istanbul mayor declared that in order to decrease Istanbul’s Monday traffic, cabs will work with 50% discount 3 days a week. the Mayor had stated that the head of Taxi Drivers’ Chamber promised to do that. Check out Yalçın Bayer’s column [in Turkish] on his suspicions about this idea and other traffic-related projects…
It was with a certain excitement that I got up in the morning, early, to head for the
protest that everyone has already heard about.
If you’ve been living in a cave, Istanbul has been home to the biggest protest known in the history of our Republic, the Caglayan rally.
People from all over Turkey arrived in Istanbul early on a warm summeresque morning to voice their opinion on the current political affairs.
And voice their opinion they did.
The rally wasn’t suppose to start till 2PM but I figured I wouldn’t be the only one attending, so I decided to go there early. I jumped in a cab at 10.15 and was dropped off close to Sisli at 10.30. The traffic hadn’t started yet but there were a lot of street merchants selling flags to the early birds
there for the protest. Lots of buses arrived early morning from different Turkish cities, bringing over people from all over which is why the traffic was slowly starting to jam up in Mecidiyekoy and it’s surroundings.
**Please check the extended entry for the rest of this article. Please keep in mind that there are ALOT of pictures so if you have a slow connection it might take some time to load. I tried to minimize them as much as possible in order to keep the load time minimal**
(more…)
Buses run by the state-run İETT transportation enterprise with routes passing through squatter settlements of İstanbul are now being escorted by the police due to risk of terrorist attacks, the Cihan news agency reported Wednesday.
After the safest city report, I guess, this is an ironic development. In the mean time, whatever the motive of those vandals, this is a fine case of how one damages oneself. If those buses are burnt, what will happen? Only more annoyance for the local public. Nothing else. Probably those vandals are using the same buses for transportation…
Do you know that The EU Crime and Safety survey for 2006 showed that the crime rate in Istanbul was just 18 percent last year and Istanbul is the safest major city in the world……..VIA
Todays Zaman says Discord threatens ‘İstanbul 2010: European Capital of Culture’ project: Only three years remain before the İstanbul 2010: European Capital of Culture celebrations begin. In addition to a lack of the required organizational structure, the parties involved are blaming each other….
I am not totally surprised but it is still surprising; as a citizen of Turkey i know how mighty steps can be taken by the State in case of emergency. One of the most popular websites, YouTube is banned in Turkey for a single video. All the background can be found here or here. The video is ugly. It insults the founder of the Republic. Like it or not, Atatürk is a sacred figure for most of Turkish citizens. And an insulting video would trigger such a popular reaction. However, would it be necessary to legally stop the access to Youtube? In Brazil, a legal step was taken recently. But compared to this one, it is a minor intervention. In terms of net regulation, Turkey is now in league with China, Iran and some other countries in the same line….
According to a Hürriyet news, there are 23 million citizens registered to an address in Istanbul! However, in a pilot study it is found out that 1 over 9 million registers are false, repeated. No worries, that means Istanbul’s population is lower than 23 millions indeed…
One of yesterday’s striking issues was a proposal that Ahmet Genç, the mayor of Eyüp, a conservative district of Istanbul that includes an area of the Golden Horn in question, proposed to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Council last Friday to change the name of Pierre Loti Heights to the “Eyüp Sultan Heights.” Eyüp Sultan, a holy man and disciple of Prophet Mohammed, was buried near the site in 1458 and his remains are in a mausoleum there known as a “Türbe.”
The council made a decision late yesterday afternoon and determined the name “Pierre Loti Heights” should remain as it is and therefore rejected the proposal, reported CNN-Turk…..
Well, why one needs that? That name is there for years and why one needs threatened with that? Of course, there are ideological and cultural answers, i am not that naive (!)
