From Tehran Bureau:
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…a neighborhood about to be destroyed. See their great website: Tarlabasi Istanbul
“In the early 1950s, waves of rural migration led to profound demographic and socio-economic changes in Istanbul. Empty houses in Tarlabaşı and other neighbourhoods were soon claimed by workers arriving from all over Anatolia. Young men started working alongside local master craftsmen, or usta, and sometimes went on to open their own stores and workshops. Yusuf Karapinar, a shoemaker, got his start in the profession at the age of 8, as an apprentice in a Greek family. “They were lovely people, extremely nice to me,” he said. “During the month of Ramadan, they never ate in front of me and my mentor’s wife always insisted on cooking an iftar meal for all of us.” Forty years later, Yusuf Usta is today one of the very last shoemakers in the neighbourhood and his shop is threatened with demolition. Turan Usta, who works with Yusuf and his son Kadir Karapinar and has been a shoemaker for 45 years, is angry about the prospect: “If they tear Tarlabaşı down, it will be the end of the artisans and of the craftsmanship here.””
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Tags: Constantinople, Greeks in Turkey, Istanbul, Ramazan, Tarlabasi, Turks
Two videos — God give them strength.
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Tags: Afghanistan, Islam, London, Olympics, Palestinians, Ramazan
Me, I'm Nicholas Bakos, a.k.a. "NikoBako." I'm Greek (Roman really, but when I say that in English some five people in the world today understand what I'm talking about, so I use "Greek" for shorthand). I'm from New York. I live all over the place these days. The rest should become obvious from the blog.
See "JADDE: THE MISSION AND STARTING OFF, the blog's first entry below, and JADDE: THE NAME OF THIS BLOG for my general agenda:
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