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Alp Serif Besen

Not a day goes by that Türkiye is not struck by another catastrophe. For those unfamiliar with the recent news, Türkiye went for two elections on 14th and 28th of May respectively, for its new president. And the right-wing religious dic*ator – whom I call Voldemort – was once again elected by 52% of the overall votes. This means quite a lot of things. And you won’t have to read in between the lines. I’ll say them out loud.

First, the corrupted state bureaucracy and economy will very likely worsen over the following years – even months maybe. The inflation will rise. The construction industry – Türkiye’s so-called ‘locomotive’ (leading) industry – will collapse even further. It’s not rocket science. Architects and all others involved in the industry will suffer from a lack of investment. And I can easily say that most architects will end up unemployed.

Second, the ongoing lack of respect towards arts, design, literature, culture and basically all intellectual endeavors will increase exponentially. For instance, nepotism had so long replaced talent and true dedication in Türkiye. Voldemort is responsible for replacing the deans of the highest ranking universities in Türkiye with his incompetent relatives or supporters. Also those not involved in the academy are left with no room for critical or intellectual thinking whatsoever.

Third, prior to the elections, half of my friends had already left the country, for a better future. And the other half named the elections a ‘threshold’ for their future. That’s because, if not won by the opposition, everyone knew that the elections would cause Türkiye to keep on spiraling down into the religious state which the ruling political party had always been dreaming of. And now all my remaining friends are looking for ways in which they can leave all of this behind and travel somewhere else. Life is not long enough to stay and fight against what’s happening. We all have done our parts in the fight. And, I, on the other hand, am not sure about what I need to do next.

Fourth, the last, we – the 48 percent of the society – are stripped away of our rights to protest or any political stance. Only 3 months ago, the International Women’s March was subdued by police brutality. Plus, a few days ago, right upon the hatred Voldemort spilled out in his victory speech, the police attacked a group of friends gathered in a park for a Pride picnic. Now, the Pride Month is here. The march is scheduled to take place in Taksim towards the end of this month. As a queer person, I’ve always enjoyed the marches despite all that police brutality. However, this time, in particular, frightens me more than ever. There’s no limit to the violence we might face this time.

Türkiye is no longer what it used to be. Look at me, I’m hardly left with room for making a public political statement or right to protest. I’m so afraid to be imprisoned that I cannot even use Voldemort’s real name. And I’m complaining about everything to a Western audience. I wish I could write about the architectural exhibitions and happenings in İstanbul, like I was supposed to do. I actually tried really hard to come up with a list. But no. I was given a platform for my thoughts with an assurance for no censorship and honestly these are all I can think about.

So… When you plan on visiting İstanbul, keep all those in mind. Instead of an architectural event organized by some nepo-baby with no intellectual background at all, pick a random street in the city, then walk around and talk to locals. Don’t waste your time on meaningless events – or what I call cheap soap operas. Design itself is a blend of reality and dream. So is architecture. An architect must put an effort in getting to know the reality behind the local dynamics and people. Give it a chance. I’m sure you’ll like it.

But still, I’m technically supposed to suggest a few events, so that the editors can attach them to the newsletter. So, if you insist on taking part in a happening, take a look at the Pride weeks in İstanbul. This June, there will be two. The first will be Trans Pride Week between 12th and 18th. And the other will be the LGBTI+ Pride Week between 19th and 25th. Neither have yet announced their calendars in detail. But from my past experience, I know that they both will start with a set of quite informative and also fun panels and workshops. In the past years, a number of panels were in fact about architecture, urbanism and design in a general sense. Plus, both weeks will end with a march. The last march, which did not meet with an intense amount of police brutality, was held in Beyoğlu in 2014. I wish I could say the same for these two. But if you are brave enough and really want to have an insight on the local people, try them out. Afterall, if you have never tasted tear gas, you’ll never truly know what it’s like to be an İstanbulite.