(no subject)
Open sewers and muddy, shit-stained streets are the most prominent signs of the new entrepreneurial project going down on Istanbul's high street called, by it's brainchild, GÜZEL BEYOĞLU PROJESİ ('the nice beyoğlu project' haha).
As I write the entirity of the 3km Istiklal Cadessi (independance avenue), which was built in the 19th century, is having a fat face lift. This consists of massive JCBs blocking pathways and sometimes digging up the rubble from beneath your feet. People find themselves walking to get somewhere and having to stop and turn round. My favorite was watching the gravel being smashed to pulp outside the main brothel with all the post-ops cooing, hissing and calling the workers, much to their discomfort/glee.
Aside from the inconvinence or fun depending on how you look at it, there's something I found out about this recent Istanbul phenomenon that really pissed me off.
Apart from the fact that the street was built in the 19th century so is pretty, old, 'quaint' and has seen the soles of the likes Louis Armstrong's shoes, and that the authentic nature of the tiles, layout etc. show why tourists and the likes of me tend to fall in love with the city with it's layers upon layers of different cultures, his(hers)tories and so on - which of couse is gonna suck to see go, the whole thing appears to be a part of a big fat Scam.
According to a few (disconected) Istanbulian friends of mine, Ahmet Misbah Demircan - the head of the Beyoğlu municipality - has got his fingers in pies. Having friends in the Cermamics industry he's promised to buy the most expensive ceramics on the market to unnecesarily re-do the entirity of the main street and the streets around it. Bear in mind that the main street itself is about 3km long and a good 8 metres wide .. that's alot of dough. Who pays for it? Your average tax paying Turk that's who (not me, Idontpaytax).
Of course concerns could've been voiced at the open meetings discussing the matter with the public if there were any. But there weren't.
Considering this city has got an large and ever-widening rich / poor divide THIS ISN'T GOING TO FUCKING HELP IS IT?. Not only does it fuck people around, it also encourages this ugly cronyism that we see all over the fucking place.
The powerfull and upper classes here in Istanbul tend to respect America, and the American system. This is most clear in the puritanical nationalism-pretending-to-be-patriotism and the Kafka-esque maze of forms, details and ID required whenever you wanna buy anything like a sim card or sound system. Not to mention the love of cops but lets not go there.
EDIT:
It also turns out that this baby isn't just financially motivated. Apparantly the guy who runs the ceramics company in question has got strong, and open connections to Ak Partisi (the white party).. not some neo-fascist governmental party but a fundamentalist Islamic one. .. Whatever .. it smells of poo.
meanwhile - i found this quite informative, funny and stuff.
chao.
As I write the entirity of the 3km Istiklal Cadessi (independance avenue), which was built in the 19th century, is having a fat face lift. This consists of massive JCBs blocking pathways and sometimes digging up the rubble from beneath your feet. People find themselves walking to get somewhere and having to stop and turn round. My favorite was watching the gravel being smashed to pulp outside the main brothel with all the post-ops cooing, hissing and calling the workers, much to their discomfort/glee.
Aside from the inconvinence or fun depending on how you look at it, there's something I found out about this recent Istanbul phenomenon that really pissed me off.
Apart from the fact that the street was built in the 19th century so is pretty, old, 'quaint' and has seen the soles of the likes Louis Armstrong's shoes, and that the authentic nature of the tiles, layout etc. show why tourists and the likes of me tend to fall in love with the city with it's layers upon layers of different cultures, his(hers)tories and so on - which of couse is gonna suck to see go, the whole thing appears to be a part of a big fat Scam.
According to a few (disconected) Istanbulian friends of mine, Ahmet Misbah Demircan - the head of the Beyoğlu municipality - has got his fingers in pies. Having friends in the Cermamics industry he's promised to buy the most expensive ceramics on the market to unnecesarily re-do the entirity of the main street and the streets around it. Bear in mind that the main street itself is about 3km long and a good 8 metres wide .. that's alot of dough. Who pays for it? Your average tax paying Turk that's who (not me, Idontpaytax).
Of course concerns could've been voiced at the open meetings discussing the matter with the public if there were any. But there weren't.
Considering this city has got an large and ever-widening rich / poor divide THIS ISN'T GOING TO FUCKING HELP IS IT?. Not only does it fuck people around, it also encourages this ugly cronyism that we see all over the fucking place.
The powerfull and upper classes here in Istanbul tend to respect America, and the American system. This is most clear in the puritanical nationalism-pretending-to-be-patriotism and the Kafka-esque maze of forms, details and ID required whenever you wanna buy anything like a sim card or sound system. Not to mention the love of cops but lets not go there.
EDIT:
It also turns out that this baby isn't just financially motivated. Apparantly the guy who runs the ceramics company in question has got strong, and open connections to Ak Partisi (the white party).. not some neo-fascist governmental party but a fundamentalist Islamic one. .. Whatever .. it smells of poo.
meanwhile - i found this quite informative, funny and stuff.
chao.