Or not even that long. I left Istanbul at the end of June and returned last week for a whirlwind tour of what felt like ‘This is Your Life: Istanbul.’ While many of the people whom I wanted to see I was able to find, the physical and political landscape of the city had changed quite a bit.
Wandering around my old neighborhood of Cukurcuma/Cihangir, I saw a new chocolate store (why did they have to wait on that one?), a new building, the restoration of another old building within steps of my old apartment, no less than 4 new cafes, and the total renovation and rearrangement of my grocery store. I have only to think about the ongoing renovation of Stop & Shop in Harwich, MA, to fully appreciate this feat… Istiklal Caddesi, the main pedestrian thoroughfare has seen one major department store close, and the opening of one more Starbucks, two new Body Shops, and another branch of Mavi Jeans. And this is only what I noticed in the short time I spent.
Less obvious, but quite important, are the changes taking place politically. While this landscape feels similar to when I left, including another high profile trial for an author charged with violating article 301 by ‘denigrating Turkishness.’ Last year Orhan Pamuk was on trial. This year, it was Elif Safak for a sentence in her new novel ‘The Bastard of Istanbul.’ Though Safak’s trial was eventually dismissed by the prosecutor (lots of international pressure), many others continue to be charged and face several years in prison. One such person is a friend of a friend. The offense? Translating one of Noam Chomsky’s works. Now the translator, his publisher, and an assistant are all being charged and could face prison time. While these trials and charges are nothing new, the current state of Turkey’s EU negotiations make the scrapping of this law unlikely.
With less than a month left before the deadline for Turkey to open its ports of Cyprus, the country is at (as it always seems to be) a crossroads. Should Turkey refuse to open its ports, which many say it will if the EU doesn’t allow trade to the Turkish Northern part of Cyprus, potential repercussions could be the freezing of accession talks. This will change the climate in drastic ways, for both Turkey and Europe. Already most Turks I talked to are anxious about the economy after a marked decrease in tourism this summer. The economic situation coupled with a future-changing EU decision that many Turks expect (many of the students I spoke with last year think that the EU never took Turkey seriously), does not bode well for the country.
It doesn’t take five months for things to change around there–in one month things could be very different. But my guess is that life will go on in Turkey, and it will continue to define itself as a very unique country for both better and worse. Regardless of what happens, if I return again I’m sure I’ll still find the Bosphorus lined with fisherman at all hours of the day…
