ISTANBUL
How I perceive it
WELCOME TO ISTANBUL
Their plane landed at Ataturk Airport, which is the largest and most important airport in Turkey. airport has also been an important transit airport bl. another because Turkish Airlines now flies to many destinations around the world with Ataturk Airport as a center for this network. Meanwhile, airport name a reminder to you of how important the name Ataturk has been in control of the country. The Turkish sytem has been based on the totalitarian ideology Ataturkismen (Kemalism). many institutions and buildings have been named Ataturk: Ataturk University in Erzurum, child, teen, and high schools, streets and roads, one of the bridges over the golden horn ... The old name of the airport (when it was a smaller airport) was Yesilkoy (meaning The Green Village)
You have such areas as Florya and Yesilkoy (The Green Village) around the airport. When we were driving from the airport can be ma get a feel for the city that is cleanliness. municipality in Istanbul working effectively and Istanbul is a city cleanliness. The municipality has spent money on creating areas around the airport with flowers (tulips, etc.). Tulips symbolize Istanbul and from here it has come to the Netherlands.
There is metro line between the airport and Aksaray in Old Town. If we are to Sultanahmet with many hotels you can take the metro (token: 3 TL) and change to the tram (token: 3 TL) in stop Zeytinburnu to arrive at Sultanahmet. It is Also buses run by the firm Havatas running to Taksim about Atakoy (marina where you can catch a boat to the Asian side) and Aksaray (where you can take the metro tunnel under the Bosphorus or short dråsjekjøring to Sultanahmet). Alternatively take taksi airport (about 45 TL to Taksim and approximately 40 TL to Sultanahmet)
There is another airport on the Asian side-Sabiha Gokcen. According to the plan will be built a new airport, which will be one of the largest in Europe, west of Istanbul. When the new airport opens, the current Ataurk airport discontinued.
NUMBER OF POPULATION, THE TWO SIDES OF ISTANBUL
When I moved to Norway from Istanbul in 1987 was approximately 6,000,000 residents in the city. When you meet people in Istanbul are the sannsynnlig that you may hear different population from various people, up to 25 million. In Turkey we are accustomed exaggerations and you have to cross-check the information you receive from us in Turkey. I had agreed with some of my colleagues guide that we should, to be on the safe side, say about 15 million inhabitants in Istanbul. Istanbul with its approximately 15 million residents make up approximately 20% of the population in the country and is the largest city in Turkey. About Third part of the inhabitants live on the Asian side and about 2.3 parts of the population live on the European side. This indicates that the majority of the population is located on the European side. It is possible that as it may almost be an equalization of the two parts and the proportion of residents on the Asian side may increase and get closer to the European side. The newly opened tunnel under the Bosphorus can, for example, bring one approach between the two parts.
There are no differences between the two parts of Istanbul in terms of type of people. European Istanbul is Istanbul and Asian Istanbul is Istanbul. If we seek out some differences between the two parts, we might come up with some conclusions and facts.
1) The majority of the stately offices are located on the European side. governor's office and the town hall for the city of Istanbul, for example, located respectively in Cagaloglu close to Sultanahmet and Sarachane in the old town.
2) Without a doubt , it is the European part that is most interesting for tourists. The majority
of the main tourist attractions located on the European side. A small proportion of tourists take the trip to the Asian side. , we hope that the new tunnel under the Bosphorus will make access to the Asian side easier.
3) There are cultural and entertainment on both sides. But most of these types of activities are on the European side. Foremost areas like Taksim -per located on the European side.
4) It's just a matter of taste which one will stay. I need detailed statistics but think that there are more people who live on the Asian side and work on the European side than those who live on the European side and work on the Asian side.
ISTANBUL IS THE HEART OF TURKEY and ØSTENSEN LONDO
There is no doubt that Istanbul is the heart of Turkey. There are no other cities in Turkey rivals Istanbul. Ankara is a boring and artificially created by the central bureaucratic and military authorities, who have formed the core of the old military-controlled system. With avmilitæriseringsprosessen (demilitarisation process) in Turkey looks Ankara to lose their weight in the system. It's a tug of war between the decrepit old Turkey based on Ataturkisme (Kemalism) as an ideology, the military as the major partner and bureaucracy as the small partner in Turkey AND the new Turkey .
When I compare Istanbul in the 80s with the present, I can point out major differences. Istanbul has become not only larger but also more vivid. I accept that London has more quality to offer, but in Istanbul , a person from the West do not get bored. Often we hear about a new eatery opened or a celebrity concert here. I must refer to the rise of the arts in the form of bl.annet a growing number of art galleries. Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk describes Istanbul in the 50s as a melancholic city; This description would also fit on my Istanbul in the 80s. Istanbul in the 80s was much affected by the repercussions of the military coup ab 1980: A period of styles and fear.
ADMINISTRATION
Turkey has a system that is based on centralization and avsentralisering. It is a struggle between the two tendencies. Conservatives forces will not give up their benefits and priviligier and maintain a centralized system where they will keep their weight in the decision-making process. country still needs reforms and avsentralisering is important to speed up the development. The central system means the state agency. In Turkey, the 81 provinces, equivalent to the Norwegian counties and districts as part of the provinces. Each province has a governor appointed by the government. He is in fact not selected. Istanbul is one of these 81 provinces. Istanbul province is further divided into districts. In Istanbul there is a governor (similar to the County) and in rural areas is the district governors who are also appointed by the government.
We have two types of municipalities in Turkey: City and Municipalities (district) municipalities. In Turkey there are approximately 30 cities have metropolitan municipality status: Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, Adana, Gaziantep, Eskisehir, ... Let us study Istanbul. Istanbul is a city that contains approximately 40 districts: Besiktas Beyoglu (Taksim is part of it), Sisli, Beyoglu (all that is within the city walls), Zeytinburnu, Bakirkoy, Kadikoy, Sariyer, .... Each of these districts have community. All these (district) municipalities are subject to metropolitan municipality. Each municipality mayor and municipal council. Metropolitan municipality in Istanbul led by their mayor. The mayor of the city municipality leader throughout the city. It is a breakdown of revenues (property taxes, etc.) and responsibilities (who will build side streets, who will build the metro). In the local elections every five years elected the mayor, the council and the local bodies. The party that gets biggest share of votes gets the mayor position. Lets say it is Party A has obtained highest percentage of votes with 20% of the vote. The party gets mayor position. In Istanbul, it has been AKP (ruling party) and the AKP's predecessor before it, has won the mayor position in the metropolitan municipality since 1994, Erdogan was also mayor of the city of Istanbul from the Welfare Party (RP), which was the predecessor of the AKP. The current mayor of Istanbul called Kadir topbar (from AKP) and he is akitekt by profession. AKP has a dominance of the metropolitan municipality in Istanbul. ( AKP (Righteousness and Progress Party) was founded in 2001 by reformist group of the contemporary Islamist party Virtue Party (Fazil Partisi) headed by such personalities as Recep Tayyip Erdogan (current Prime Minister), Abdullah Gul (current president) and Bulent Arinc (Party Big Brother). AKP can be defined as a coalition of such diverse groups as moderate Islamists, sects, liberal, conservative, etc..
CHP (Republican People's Party) was founded by Ataturk, holding the position of mayor bl. else in Sisli, Besiktas, Bakirkoy, Sariyer, Kadikoy - districts with either greater weight of Kemalist , educated people, western-oriented people or people who think the AKP has Islamization as its main objective.
Just to clarify: For example, in the district of Bakirkoy is a distrikguvernor (which is subject to the governor of Istanbul and a mayor. Meanwhile, Bakirkoy subject metropolitan municipality with a mayor for all Istanbul.
ISTANBUL and Kurds
It is difficult to give an exact percentage of Kurds in Istanbul. If one can argue that Kurds make up about 15% of the population in Turkey, one can estimate that approximately 15% of the population of Istanbul's Kurds. Then one can conclude that approximately 2.3 million of populationIn Istanbul can be Kurds. Consider immigrants in Norway. A group is well integrated into society, some are part of integration, some have problems with integration. I believe parallels can be drawn between immigrants in Norway and Kurds / migrants in Istanbul. A group of Kurds have gained much capital and own their businesses, one group of Kurds got a job in state and local authorities and were subjected to a assimiliserings- or selvassimiliseringsprosess. There is also a group who has moved to Istanbul because of affliction, oppression and forced relocation of villages. They are radicalized. One may think that especially the last-mentioned group has had most problems with the inclusion. essence is not only a type Kurdish in the relations between the Kurds and the system and perceptions of how the Kurdish issue will be solved.
IS ISTANBUL A melting pot PEOPLE FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF TURKEY?
In Italy one can point to the development differences between North and South. This is similar to Norway (I go on the basis that it is understood that South Norway is more developed than North Norway). In Turkey, the development differences between West and East. The western Turkey is more developed. One can point to a portion reasons / causes:
1) Better / milder climate in western Turkey. The inner parts of western Turkey may have hard winter and although the duration of winter with closed roads etc. in the Eastern Turkey is more.
2) Higher education in the Western Turkey.
3) More liberal society with more emphasis on the individual in the Western Turkey -well founded capitalist market economy. Feudalism based on Kurdish tribes etc. in Eastern Turkey that inhibition of development.
4) Much more industrial, tourism in the Western Turkey.
As a result, many have moved from the eastern provinces to the western parts of Turkey: Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, Ankara, Antalya ... There is an expression about Istanbul: " Istanbul if rock and soil is gold "
Very many of these immigrants in the 60's, 70's, 80's started with almost zero and could not afford to buy apartments / houses with adequate standards. They built Gecekondu is (Gecekondu means house built in one night) and so shaped that to such ghettos with the new settlers. It was not just the low housing standards that characterized this process but integration issues for this group was also a fact. This was the case most of the first generation that held on to their traditions from their villages and provinces. This reminds me of the first generation of immigrants in Norway. Second and third generations of migrants have had it easier integration into society. Mustafa Sarigul, the mayor of Sisli and candidate for mayor of Istanbul, writes in his new book that when they moved from their home town of Erzincan to Istanbul, first he lived with his father and mother in a basement room of a house without windows; they had to share tvalet and bathroom with one anne family.
NORWAY HAS BEEN A COLOURFUL PUBLIC / TURKEY (ISTANBUL) LOST ITS COLOR
From my days in Norway (late 80s and early 90s) I remember such slogans as "Do not touch Kamarata my" and "Yes to a colorful community." in the then were already many people who came from other parts of the world Norway; but there was a period of immigration issue as a hot topic. Now one can say that Norway has a colorful society; this with their side effects and negative sides. When one sees this development may also remember that in the old days it was not in Norway the largest accommodating public; just remember Jew paragraph and what stood in the laws of the Jesuits.
The Ottoman society was long a multicultural society. Some historians define the Ottoman Empire as an extension of the Roman Empire as a multicultural society. Obviously, one can point to many pages, and events in the Ottoman time when you consider on multiculturalism; But while one can point to such facts as the Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal , and was welcomed by the Ottoman Sultan Beyazid den2. During the last years of the Ottoman Empire is not well reputation when one thinks of the Armenian question etc.
It has not been easy being a minority (ethnic or religious) in Turkey since the founding of the republic in 1923 tyrksike One can hardly claim that it has been easy in many parts of the world. But two wrong do not make a right, as we say in Turkey. In the 20th century there were approximately 150,000 Greeks in Istanbul and this was equivalent to approximately 15% of the population of Istanbul; Now there are only few thousands of Turkish citizens of Greek origin in Istanbul. In the 20's there were over 100,000 Armenians in Istanbul; Now about 60,000. When glelder Jews of Istanbul , the number was reduced from 80,000 to about 17,000 during those around 90s. Then one can conclude that while Norway has been a colorful society, Istanbul has lost its color. It is important that we should get back a portion of this color. It is my dream that these minorities formerly Turkish citizens will eventually move back to Turkey mainly Istanbul. I believe that hetoregene (compound) communities are stronger and have greater ability to cope with today's challenges in the world.
ISTANBUL IS THE MOST LIBERAL TOWN IN TURKEY
Kanksje because people in Istanbul with about 15 million inhabitants do not have the energy, time to think about what the others are doing and thinking, there is less social pressure / social control in Istanbul. Here there is more room to be who you are. It is easier to be a Christian / gay / lesbian / atheist in Istanbul than in a village or another city in Turkey. This means that different people dare to prove easier here with their opinions and actions.