Istanbul’s Disneyfication

Hurriyet daily posted June 30 a story titled “Putting Breaks on Tarlabasi,” announcing that the decision of the Council of State (Danistay, the highest administrative court) on the Urban Transformation Project of Tarlabasi was guilty of “not serving [the] public good” and should be halted. This decision could set a precedent for several other mega urban transformation projects of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) era. Yet on July 2, pro-AKP newspapers published news with the photo of Ahmet Misbah Demircan, mayor of Beyoglu district, denying the news. Demircan told the press, “All court cases against the project have resulted in our favor. The urbanization project of Tarlabasi continues full speed.”

Tarlabasi is located in the center of Istanbul. Being the hub of social and economic life in Istanbul, it was settled by non-Muslims during the Ottoman era. Serving as residences for those who worked in Beyoglu, Tarlabasi was home to Jews, Greeks and Armenians. Most of the buildings date back to the 19th century. Yet the glorious days are gone, along with the non-Muslim population of the district. A series of unfortunate events, such as 1942 wealth tax on non-Muslims, riots against Greek Orthodox citizens that destroyed their businesses and residences in 1955, and legislation requiring the departure of Greeks in 1964 has affected Tarlabasi significantly. These abandoned residences in walking distance to the commercial district provided ample opportunities for inner-city squatting.

In 1986, the demolition of more than 300 Levantine buildings to construct Tarlabasi Boulevard expedited the social, economic and physical decay of the neighborhood beyond repair. It was the beginning of “ghettoization” or “slummization” of the neighborhood. Seasoned journalist Isa Tarlabasi produced a searing documentary titled “Step Child of Beyoglu: Tarlabasi” in 2012. Tatlican, who was born and raised in Tarlabasi, explained the process of gentrification to Al-Monitor. “Neither of the news is necessarily wrong. There were grievances as the project progressed, but it is not possible to halt it at this stage as several buildings have already been demolished,” said Tatlican. He projects a sober view of the district. On the one hand, he is sad that not more buildings could be preserved in their original spirit; on the other hand, he acknowledges the depth of decay causing health and safety concerns.

The sterile “Disneyfication” process is a top-down approach advised by the then prime minister, now President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The first stage of the Tarlabasi project designated 278 buildings in nine blocks as a renewal zone in February 2006. Rather unusually, Tarlabasi was put on a tender by the Beyoglu municipality. On April 2007, a private developer, GAP Construction Company, won the bid. Interestingly, GAP is a part of Calik Holding Group, infamous in Turkey due to its ties to the AKP. The CEO of Calik was Berat Albayrak, Erdogan's son-in-law.