WALK FREE

I miss Beyoğlu the most. I want Taksim back. I want to walk free and comfortably in Beyoğlu and Galata, as before, without feeling like a foreign tourist and without being afraid of anyone in my shorts.

I'm not going to talk about the boring immigration policy, and I know it sounds like a fascist post when it starts like this. I'm not writing this to be a separate article, but I miss the old Turkey. I want the old free days back.

The slopes descending to Galata, Beyoğlu, Tünel, Tophane… As an Istanbulite, walking around here is like recharging my battery. Where I walked around crying when I was unhappy, when I am happy I look around with a smile, the parties and entertainments of my 20s… these are not reminiscing, but wanting the old free days again. I have walked from Istiklal alone at 4 in the morning in a short skirt, and nothing happened to me. Because at that time, it was enough not to enter the dark streets and to continue walking until the minibuses from the other side of the street if you sometimes meet someone with whom you do not have a pleasant energy. It was as if everyone was happier in Taksim in the past.

Galata Tower

My favorite building in Istanbul. So, it deserves a separate title. Touching the walls while going up and down the hill with the elevator. In some historical places, touching the stone and soil gives a strange feeling. If there is reincarnation, I must have a connection with old Istanbul. Otherwise, there is no explanation for a structure to be so good for a person. There are various legends and stories about the Galata Tower. The famous one is that you marry whoever you go up to the Galata Tower first. I first went out alone, I always went out alone. I watched the view from the Galata Tower alone among the crowds and never felt sad. But I still understand the person who committed suicide by jumping from the Galata Tower a few months ago, it is important that the last thing he sees is beautiful.

Those who know me personally know that whenever I am bored, I go to the Galata Tower and stay there for half an hour and watch around. If you have my mobile number, you may have seen that even my profile picture is from Galata Tower. No matter how depressed I was, it was always good to look in the direction of the Golden Horn from the Galata Tower. It sounded so good that it turned into a habit. The tower is open until 23:00, so if I've had a bad day at work, it's good for me to stop by the tower before I go home on my way back, at least to put my hand on its wall. Some might find it silly or perhaps even romantic. I don't care what anyone thinks, I know what's good for me and I think one day I can go up to the tower with a person who is good for me. At least that thought is romantic, isn't it?

On the way to Galata Tower, I take the metro from Şişhane-İstiklal Caddesi exit and walk down the slope. There are two ways to walk, I go down either in front of Galata Mevlevihanesi or in front of my favorite Spanish restaurant. If I'm in a good mood, it's always a good idea to have a glass (or a whole jug) Sangria there.

For example, the shops of my favorite tattoo artists are near there. I loved walking there. Although I love Galata Tower very much, since its operation has been privatized and some of the walls of the tower have been demolished from the inside; I'm a bit of a business-mannered attitude since they expanded the interior space of the tower. Strange restorations on my favorite building in Istanbul, left over from the Genoese, annoy me.

If I still need to walk after getting down from the tower, I will go up to Istiklal. If I have a wish, I can stick a candle to wish in Saint Anthony I can sit on the pews for a while and look at Jesus, who looks pretty pathetic. And then going to the Irish Pub on Balo Sokak is one of my sweetest pleasures. Even if I go alone, it's always been a place where I have fun. Especially if it's on Saint Patrick's Day, I can celebrate as much as an Irishman. Even the beer served in green with food coloring is nice.

These are activities that are OK for any hour of the day. But one of my other pleasures is that if it's a hot summer day or one of the days when it snows in Istanbul, the Hagia Eirene Orthodox Church at the entrance of independence is a great place to stop and see its beauty. There are so many places to see and love in this region that I love small bars, bookstores, antique shops, coffee shops… The slopes going down to the sea…

But no place is comfortable anymore. It's been a long time since I passed the part of Istiklal between Galatasaray High School and Meydan. I still go to the liberated areas, but there is such a bad crowd everywhere… You used to hear jazz in Istiklal, and beautiful folk songs. But now, in my Istanbul, which continues to receive meaningless immigration - yes it is my Istanbul - Istiklal is dominated by sounds and music, all of them in Arabic or similar to Arabic. Although there is a wide variety in the crowd, Arabic arabesque dominates street music. In the past, there used to be “emo” hanging out in front of Yapı Kredi Kültür, now Syrians and Afghans live in their place…

My intention is not to discriminate, I want to live free in my own country.