A few slow days in Istanbul
In Perşembe Pazarı (near Karaköy), on the Golden Horn waterfront below Galata Tower, I sat every day with a beer. A shopkeeper told me it was OK to drink in public, and I saw locals doing the same. Still, when two policemen checked my papers, I thought that might be the problem, but no — probably I just looked suspicious, lol. The last time I was in Istanbul in 2013, this part of town was different. The walking path didn't exist. Instead, all the seafood restaurants were right on the seafront; now they have been moved back from the water to the little street behind it. Back then, fishing boats docked here, and there was also a small fish market, rather than the cruise yachts you see today. Still, it is a nice little spot, and I returned every day to chill a bit.
My hotel was on the other side of the Sultanahmet hill, so I passed some of the main attractions every day, but did not visit them this time.
One of the days, I visited the seafront in Kabataş, near Dolmabahçe Palace, and then walked to Taksim and Galata. Taksim has become very upmarket, like a main shopping street in any major Western city, and has pretty much lost its character. In some of the little side streets you can still find the old atmosphere, though. Around Galata Tower, I didn't know, there used to be a substantial Jewish community, and there are several synagogues and the Museum of Turkish Jews in the area. There was a police presence around the Jewish sites, I noticed, which seemed unnecessary but understandable. Muslims, and much of the rest of the world, don't see Jews or Judaism as the enemy; they understand that Zionism is the issue. The walk on this side of the Golden Horn eventually ended in Perşembe Pazarı, on the waterfront.
On the other side of the Golden Horn, in Eminönü, there is also a Jewish site, a little synagogue revealing very little to the outside world. On the way home across the hill, I saw some pro-Palestinian graffiti and an old Christian church. “Free Palestine” — the Palestinians' right to return as equal citizens — does not exclude Jews; the roots of the present day Jews, Christians, and Muslims go back to biblical times, to the Philistines, Canaanites, Israelites and other peoples who inhabited the land. They should all have a home on equal terms in historic Palestine.
In the area known as Balat, further up along the Golden Horn, you find the ruined walls of Constantinople, the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus, churches, mosques and synagogues, and pretty streets. Some spots are overflowing with people taking selfies to post the very same picture on Instagram that tens of thousands of others have already posted.
I may have visited Kadıköy on the Asian side in 2013, but even if I did, I only saw the port. Now, to my surprise, I found a very lively area. I learned that this part of Kadıköy, including Moda and the surrounding neighbourhoods, historically had large non-Muslim communities, particularly Greeks, Armenians and Jews. There is another rather hidden synagogue, several churches of different denominations, and of course many mosques. There are also many theatres here, reflecting the area's more secular and cultural atmosphere. The coastal walk is also nice, with great views across the water. Kadıköy is connected to the main locations across the Bosphorus by public ferries, and I had a final look at the Galata Bridge before heading to the airport.
I saw this poster and was wondering what it was about. It turns out that Asırlık Gece (“A Century-Long Night”) is a new 2026 Turkish TV docudrama/miniseries about the failed military coup of 15 July 2016 in Turkey. Whatever your view of Erdoğan, the coup was largely plotted by people from a pro-NATO/Atlanticist faction, friendly towards Israel and hostile towards Iran and Russia, at a time when Turkey was mending ties with Moscow.
