A Historical Panorama of an Istanbul Neighborhood: Cihangir from The
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A HISTORICAL PANORAMA OF AN ISTANBUL NEIGHBORHOOD: CIHANGIR FROM THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY TO THE 2000s by Binnaz Tu ğba Sasanlar Submitted to The Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Bo ğaziçi University 2006 “A Historical Panorama of an Istanbul Neighborhood: Cihangir from the Late Nineteenth Century to the 2000s”, a thesis prepared by Binnaz Tu ğba Sasanlar in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree at the Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History. This thesis has been approved and accepted by: Assoc. Prof. Duygu Köksal Prof. Şevket Pamuk Prof. Zafer Toprak ii An Abstract of the Thesis of Binnaz Tu ğba Sasanlar for the degree of Master of Arts in the Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History to be taken August 2006. Title: A HISTORICAL PANORAMA OF AN ISTANBUL NEIGHBORHOOD: CIHANGIR FROM THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY TO THE 2000s This study can be seen as a contribution to the history of a cosmopolitan Istanbul neighborhood, Cihangir, where Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Levantines, Turks, and other Muslim and non-Muslim inhabitants lived in harmony for centuries. Based on oral history narratives by older and new inhabitants of the neighborhood as well as primary sources identified by the author, the present study aims to shed light on its cosmopolitan fabric and the changes it has undergone throughout the republican history of Turkey. It reflects its author’s perspective which situates the story of Cihangir within the framework of the story of the decline of cosmopolitan Istanbul due to the Turkification policies of the nationalist state. After a series of regrettable events like the notorious Wealth Tax of 1942, the 6-7 September riots in 1955, and the 1964 decree for the deportation of Greek nationals, Cihangir lost its original human fabric with the gradual departure of its non-Muslim inhabitants, specifically the Greeks, who were the main population in the neighborhood. It also presents the cosmopolitan mahalle life in Cihangir, especially in the 1950s and the 1960s. After a period of déclassement, however, Cihangir was reinvented in a globalizing metropolis, Istanbul. This study also discusses the process of gentrification in Cihangir and its effects on the neighborhood and the daily mahalle life there. Present day Cihangir is a culturally heterogeneous but ethnically less mixed neighborhood embracing the few remaining Greeks, Armenians, Jews and Levantines. However, it is a neighborhood still living together with its past. iii Atatürk İlkeleri İnkılap Tarihi Enstitüsü’nde Yüksek Lisans derecesi için Binnaz Tu ğba Sasanlar tarafından A ğustos 2006’da teslim edilen tezin kısa özeti Ba şlık: Bir İstanbul Semti’nin Tarihsel Panoraması: On Dokuzuncu Yüzyıl Sonundan 2000’lere Cihangir Bu çalı şma yüzyıllardır Rum, Ermeni, Musevi, Levanten, Türk ve di ğer Müslüman ve gayrimüslim unsurların bir arada uyum içinde ya şadıkları kozmopolit bir İstanbul semti olan Cihangir’in tarihine bir katkı olarak görülebilir. Eski ve yeni Cihangirlilere ait sözlü tarih anlatıları ve yazar tarafından ortaya çıkarılan birincil kaynaklara dayanan bu çalı şma semtin kozmopolit dokusuna ve onun Cumhuriyet tarihi boyunca geçirdi ği dönü şümlere bir ı şık tutmayı hedeflemektedir. Bu çalı şma Cihangir’in hikayesini milliyetçi devletin Türkle ştirme politikaları ile ilintili olarak kozmopolit İstanbul’un dü şüş hikayesi içerisine yerle ştiren yazarının perspektifini yansıtmaktadır. 1942 Varlık Vergisi, 6-7 Eylül 1955 olayları, 1964’te Yunan tebaalıların sınır dı şı edilmesine yol açan kararname gibi bir dizi üzücü olay sonrasında Cihangir gayrimüslim, özellikle de semtin a ğırlıklı nüfusu olan Rum sakinlerinin zaman içerisinde ayrılması sonucunda orijinal insan dokusunu kaybetmi ştir. Çalı şma aynı zamanda özellikle 1950’ler ve 1960’ların Cihangirindeki kozmopolit mahalle hayatını da yansıtmaktadır. Bununla birlikte Cihangir bir dönem geçirdi ği sınıfsal dü şüşün ardından küreselle şen bir metropol olan İstanbul’da yeninden ke şfedilmi ştir. Bu çalı şma aynı zamanda Cihangir’de mutenala şma sürecini ve onun semt ve oradaki mahalle hayatı üzerindeki etkilerini tartı şmaktadır. Günümüzde Cihangir kültürel anlamda heterojen ama etnik olarak daha az karı şık fakat hala az sayıdaki Rum, Ermeni, Musevi ve Levanten sakinlerini kucaklayan ve her şeye ra ğmen bugünü dünü ile birlikte ya şayan bir semttir. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study could not have existed without the valuable assistance, contributions and motivations of special people, whom I would like to thank here. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Professor Duygu Köksal, who always helped and encouraged me during the preparation of this thesis by spending her valuable time. She was always there with her ever-lasting intellectual contribution, kindness, friendly attitude, and moral support whenever I felt myself faced with a difficulty during the formation of this thesis. Before starting this project, my concerns about it were certainly not insignificant but as I found myself more involved with the thesis and progressed, I realized that the existing concerns added up to a lot more therefore making me follow a structured road map. Here, I would like to express my special thanks to Professor Köksal, Professor Şevket Pamuk and Professor Zafer Toprak, not only for their fruitful comments and contributions, but also for shaping my mind to construct my study as a history thesis both examining the past the present situation of Cihangir. I also would like to express my special and sincere gratitude to Bo ğaziçi University Social Sciences Institute editor Ms. Kathryn Kranzler, who has read the entire manuscript and made the necessary corrections, inspired me with her invaluable ideas and contributions, and always motivated me with all her patience, not only during my study but also whenever I had a question about my studies since the day I met her. She has always been closely interested in my study as a historian, editor, and a friend. Special thanks are also due Dr. Yorgi Petridis, who has shared a considerable amount of his valuable time to help me during my research on Cihangir’s past and provided me significant primary data through a meticulous scanning of some historical records. I owe him a lot for his unique contribution and thank him for everything. This study could not have been existed if various special people had not shared their stories and experiences related to Cihangir. Without their narratives, I would not have been able to reconstruct Cihangir’s past and present. Thus, I thank all my old and new Cihangirli informants, especially to Giovanni Scognamillo, Mihael Vassiliadis, who introduced me to Mr. Petridis, Professor Murat Belge, and Selim İleri. I also thank the Cihangir Beautification Foundation and its former and current presidents, Tülay Konur and Selçuk Erdo ğmu ş, for their interest. Special thanks are also to Ms. Aylin Be şiryan and Ms. Nida Özkaymak at the Ottoman Bank Archives and Research Center for their friendly attitude and help. I also thank the Center and its rich library. Thanks are also to the Bo ğaziçi University Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History, my professors and everyone there as well as my undergraduate department, the Sociology Department at Bo ğaziçi University. My very special gratitude is also to my friends Zeynep Do ğruyol, Sevgi Akarçe şme, Sema Akbo ğa, Ayşegül Hacıo ğlu, and Elif Kuru. Last but not the least, I am always grateful to my father İsmail Sasanlar, my mother Şermin Sasanlar, my aunt Yıldız Sasanlar, my sisters Didem and Melis, and my dear grandmother Mü şerref Sasanlar for their love, encouragement, physical and moral support and everything so far. v for my family and for the history of Cihangir… vi CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION: SURRENDERING TO THE AURA OF AN ISTANBUL NEIGHBORHOOD…………………………………………………………..............1 Cihangir: Semt or Mahalle……………………………………………………………5 Theoretical Concerns………………………………………………………………..13 Methodology and Sources…………………………………………………………...20 II. REFLECTIONS OF COSMOPOLITAN CIHANGIR: RECONSTRUCTING THE NEIGHBORHOOD’S PAST………………………………………………….33 Cihangir in Ottoman Times…………………………………………………………33 Cosmopolitan Pera and the Rise of Cihangir as a Residential Area during the Nineteenth Century Globalization in Istanbul………………………………………40 Cihangir in Republican Turkey……………………………………………………...51 Turkification Process………………………………………………………………..60 The Wealth Tax……………………………………………………………………...62 The 6-7 September Riots and Cihangir: Narratives of Testimony………………….66 Cihangir Depopulated: The 1964 Expulsion of the Greeks of Istanbul and Its Effects on Cihangir…………………………………………………………………82 Déclassement in Cihangir: 1970s-1990s……………………………………………98 The Lost Mahalle Spirit in Cihangir: A Mirror on the Minutiae of Everyday Life..104 A New Type of Cosmopolitanism in Present Day Cihangir……………………….114 III. REDISCOVERING, REDEFINING, REMAPPING CIHANGIR AS A MAHALLE IN THE GLOBAL ERA……………………………………………...121 Istanbul Globalizing?................................................................................................121 Istanbul since the 1980s: The Impact of Economic Globalization………………...123 The Political Ethos of a Globalizing City………………………………………….126 Changing Urban Form……………………………………………………………..128 Redefinition of the Local…………………………………………………………..135 Reinventing Cihangir in the Global Era……………………………………………138 New Strata, New Lifestyles………………………………………………………..140 A Local Initiative: The Cihangir