Plongée dans un quartier d’Istanbul : Tarlabaşı

Fatih Pinar est un jeune photojournaliste dont le travail plonge au cœur de la matière humaine et urbaine d’Istanbul. Au diaporama et à l’exposition, il associe souvent le son, les bruits, les langues et les discours dont se recouvre et procède la ville.

Pour sa première incursion sur TE, il nous conduit au cœur du quartier populaire de Tarlabaşı, à quelques encablures des Taksim et autres Beyoglu. Quartier longtemps grec et arménien, il est devenu un ghetto populaire que le développement du centre d’Istanbul cherche aujourd’hui à soumettre à la loi d’une irrésistible « gentrification ». Le ghetto s’exile...

Photojournalist Fatih Pinar’s work depicts the real daily life of the neighborhood and gives voice to the inhabitants of Tarlabaşı, long forgotten by city planners and other Istanbul residents.

 Fatih Pinar’s website

Tarlabaşı from Fatih Pınar on Vimeo.

 Fatih Pinar explains : Mashallah News

Built between 1986 and 1988, the 8 lane Boulevard is like a Berlin wall within central Istanbul, separating the good and the bad, the beauty and the beast. Uphill, on the eastern Side, is Taksim, the trendy and sleepless cultural heart of the city. Downhill, on the western side, is the Tarlabaşı neighborhood, Istanbul’s infamous ghetto associated with crime, drugs, prostitution and extreme poverty.

From the late 19th century Tarlabaşı was a middle class area for Armenian and Greek merchants and craftsmen. Then, in the 1950s, most non-Muslims were compelled to leave Istanbul. Today, Tarlabaşı is home to many of Turkey’s marginalized communities : Kurds from Eastern Anatolia, Roma, foreign migrants and lately Christian refugees from Iraq.

Living and working conditions are hard in Tarlabaşı, and the area’s old elegant buildings are now in a state of decay. The population is victim not only of discrimination, but also of another injustice. Under law 5366 (see here), the Istanbul metropolitan municipality decided in 2007 to launch the “Tarlabaşı renewal project”, which has faced strong local opposition. The implementation of this project – a radical gentrification operation serving the interest of real-estate companies – would force the current residents to leave their homes.