2003 – 2004 TERM PROJECT
TUGBA ATMACA
AYSEGUL DOGAN
ZAFER DOGAN
SEDA GEZGİN
EMRE İLHAN
Submitted to
ZELIHA GULCAT
Introduction
Located
on the European shores of the Bosphorus between Kurucesme and Akintiburnu, Arnavutkoy is one of the most important historic villages
of
The
history of Arnavutkoy was started with the first
settlements of Greek community in Arnavutkoy in the
4th Century with its first name: Hestai. After that
time this neigbourhood took the names Promotu and Anaplus respectively.
Due to the fact that the stream in Bosphorus gets the
highest degree from the
Another point that makes Arnavutkoy remarkable is that it used to be famous for its
fragrant strawberry, woods, orchards and marked gardens in the past however it
is still one of the greenest places on the Bosphorus
with a picturesque atmosphere with its architectural and historic fabric such
as Yalis and churches.
ARCHITECTURE
Houses
Arnavutkoy,
is a town that has been able to protect its architectural identity against the
mercilessness of the history. With wooden houses on the shoreway,
Arnavutkoy gives visitors some clues about the
architectural variety of the Ottoman Capital. Because of the big fire in 1887,
many of the constructions were demolished. Altough
almost all of these houses are Greek houses, very few of them resemble the
Greek character that we see in
An
apartment house named “K. Stavridu” that was built in
1921 by G.Kovvas, is one of the first apartment houses in Arnavutkoy.
Before
the conquest of
Thanks
to an inscription that is on the right out wall of the church, we realize that
the church was repaired by a man called Manuel from the Epir’s
city Kastorya. Church was on fire two times in 18th
century. A year after the repair in 1796, it was on fire again with the trees
in its yard. People spent 77249 Turkish piastres to
repair it and in February 1798 it was ready for the worship but after a while
the church was on fire again. By the support of the Sultan Selim,
the church was rebuilt but because of the economic problems it was not
completed until the middle of the 19th century. In 1834 and 1845,
the town people repaired the church and the great earthquake destroyed the
church badly in 1894. Therefore, between 1895-1899
Greek people in Arnavutkoy helped as much as they
could in order to repair it. The church, that was symbolizing the big
population and economic power of Greeks, was one of the biggest Greek churches
in
The
wooden entrance of the church was added by the economic support of the Bostancıoglu family. At the left side of the main
entrance door, there is a fountain with 3 taps and a marble storehouse that
have been built in 1964 by the Ayios Trifonos Brotherhood Association and attributed to
protector of the gardeners Saint Ayios Trifonos. Kostaki Pasha and some
people from his family are lying under the church.
The
second
At the
left side of the main entrance door, there is Profiti
Ilias Ayazma that is known
as Great Ayazma by Turks. That ayazma is famous with its healing water. In the past every
year on July 20th, Greeks from different places were visiting the ayazma and donating big amounts of money to Arnavutkoy Greek Congregation because of the Profiti Ilias Chiristian
Feast.
On July
1948, Apoyevmati Newspaper announced that because of
the Profiti Ilias Fair, the
country music hall near the church would be ready to
serve visitors fresh fish, mussel, cold beer, cold and hot appetizers. It is
believed that at that time visitors’ crowd streched
from hill to the town center. After 51 years, in 1999, at the Profiti Ilias Chiristian
Feast there were 50-60 people and at the same country music
hall
there were 5-6 table for customers.
Tevfikiye
Mosque
The
mosque, that is on the
Arnavutkoy-Bebek
road and has a view of Akıntıburnu, was
built in 1832 by Sultan Mahmut with the barracks
(police station now) near it. This small mosque has a rectangle plan and single
minaret. It is interesting that this mosque was built while very few Muslims
were living here. It is likely that, during the 1821 Mora Rebellion, because of
the Arnavutkoy’s connection with
The
This
bath that is between the
The
oldest one in Arnavutkoy is the Izzet
Mehmet Pasha fountain that was built 1791 and is on
the street behind the Mosque. Beyhan Sultan built the
second one that was on the Akıntıburnu in
1804. This marble fountain has 3 troughs.
s
FIRES IN
ARNAVUTKOY
As Özden Danışman, who is
one of the people we have interviewed, says; “In Arnavutkoy,
because of the component of houses, a quick interference is a must otherwise a
house will be burned in 5 minutes.” This situation caused several great fires
in Arnavutkoy throughout the history.
In his
book “Istanbul Firemen”, Resad Ekrem
Kocu mentions two great fires in Arnavutkoy
in last 200 years. The first one occurred in 1798 and all waterside residences
burned. The second one burned 109 buildings in 1908. In his book named “Istoria Tu Megalu
Revmatos-Arnavutkoy”, Ilıopolis
Metropoliti Yennadios
writes that a greater fire occurred in 1887 April 11th. In a
newspaper named “Oriental Adviser - Moniteur
Oriental”. Event was described like this:
“Great
fire in Arnavutkoy. In Arnavutkoy,
on past Saturday night at
In the same newspaper next day, these
were added:
“It is learned that the majority of the burned
houses’ owners are Greeks and 800 family lost their
houses. Approximately 40 houses that belong to Jews were burned too. By the
order of the Sultan, 500 tents 3000 okes of food were
sent to Arnavutkoy.”
Once
upon a time, Arnavutkoy was famous with its mackerel,
large bluefish and large
Bonito. Akıntıburnu
was full of fishermen, but we polluted the sea and make it offended by
us. At present, there is not much fish and any
professional fisherman on the shore, but there
are only some fishing-lines. Especially fishermen from
the
hunted untimely and used trawl.
Greeks
who had come from
In
the middle of the Seventeenth century, Evliya Çelebi described Arnavutkoy in
this way: “There are houses with vineyards and orchards, these all belong to
Greeks and Jews. There are no mosques, small mosques or “imaret”s.
Muslim congregation is quite small”. *
In
Eighteenth century İnciciyan wrote
down that all the population in Arnavutkoy was Greek.
After
eighteenth century, a small Armenian community have lived there more
than 200 years. In the middle of 1930’s the small Armenian
Not
as crowded as other quarters of
Before
the Mora Uprising, Greeks were worried because of the works and secret meetings
in opposition of
According
to nineteenth century records all waterside residences belonged to
Greeks bar one or two exception. After the Mora Uprising in 1821, these
waterside residences were confiscated and sold to Jews. In the late 1800’s
Muslims started to settle down the places that were emptied before because of
the fires in the village.
In
World War I years, Greek population of Arnavutkoy
exceeded 6000. After the war, this number started to decrease and finally went
down to half because of migration and the changes of people’s dwelling.
Greeks
have emigrated to Greek as a result of Sixth and Seventh
September Events, 1964 Decree and 1974 Events. Only about 50 or 60
people who are generally old stayed in.
After
1940’s, although from time to time there were problems, which stem from the
cultural differences between the families who emigrated from Black Sea Region
and whose origin is rural and the families who are settled Greeks and
Christians, until 1955 no serious events happened. 6-7 September events, which
were the most serious disasters that Greeks have ever faced with, have also
affected Arnavutkoy people deeply, too. In these days
in Arnavutkoy where 600 Greek families were living,
looters damaged the neighbourhood badly; they devastated shopping centre,
houses, automobiles and churches. From time to time Greeks resisted thus events
became more violent.
A
77-year-old bedridden woman was wounded by an iron, which had hit her head.
After two days, she died in the hospital, where she had been taken for
treatment.
Arnavutkoy Greek Community’s
72-year-old religious leader, who had lived in Arnavutkoy
since 1920’s, was exposed to insult and he was pushed down from the stairs of
his home. After these events he would not recover, after about 6 months he
died.
A
400-year-old valuable icon, which was in
Asadur Zovikoğlu and
Uncle Tahsin are the eyewitnesses of the grievous
events. As an eyewitness Uncle Asadur’s recollections
areas follows:
“I
lived Sixth and Seventh September Events. I was in my shop until
As
another eyewitness of the events Uncle Tahsin said:
“Sixth
and Seventh September events occurred. I looked out and saw there was no
shopping centre, no tradesman. Looters, dishonourable people destroyed, broke
all things. Government paid all the cost. We protected Greeks but we couldn’t
hold their own. A crowd came, they were holding clubs in their hands, broke
whatever they came across. They destroyed all shops because there were many
Greek tradesmen in Arnavutkoy. We saved one or two
shops with difficulty.
This
was a scheme of the Government. The government created a disagreement because
it was to their interest. We mustn’t let these done, that crowd mustn’t be
increased. People started to immigrate. Self-seekers designed the events,
planned everything. After the events they sold all houses.
There
are residents who immigrated after the events. Immigrants died because of pain.
They are treated badly; they are looked down on the place they went. However I
don’t expect them to come back.”
After the tragic events, Arnavutkoy
Greek Community told that some Turks had tried to protect them but some had
showed their homes and shops and helped to the raiders by this way, with grief.
At the end of these events Greek population have
lessened continuously in Arnavutkoy.
“If
there is a special quality of mine, it is the fact that I have been here, in Arnavutkoy, since 1924, I worked in my coffee shop from
1959 to 1998 so because of these things everybody knows me. I am called ‘the
walking history of Arnavutkoy’.
Everybody
used to shop at in my store. The merchandise of my shop was various. School materials, fuel, drinks, cigarette,
newspapers were sold.”
These
words belong to Asadur Zovikoğlu,
who is an old resident
of Arnavutkoy.
According
to an interview that was made in 1998 the life history of Asadur
Zovikoğlu is like that:
Since 1924 that was his birth year, Asadur Zovikoğlu hadn’t left
Arnavutkoy that he characterizes as ‘our village’. Erzincan Kemah is his family’s place of origin. At the
beginning of the Nineteenth century his father Apraham
and grandfather Asadur emigrated from Pekeriçi
In
the shop, which was near to the Greek school, notebooks, pens, pencils,
marbles, caramels, chewing gums were sold in addition to coffee. Water and coal
were also sold in the shop. In the quarter that had a small population, a few
shop used to meet all needs.
Asadur grew in a wooden house that was near the
coffee shop. Starting nursery school that was called Mangabardes,
firstly he was educated in Arnavutkoy, then Ortaköy and Beşiktaş.
In 1946, at the end of war years, he graduated from a high school in Karaköy. He did his military service as a reserve officer
in
Between
1959 and 1998, Asadur Zovikoğlu
operated the coffee house that was opened in 1920’s.
Asadur Zovikoğlu has
said in an interview that he gave before: “In the past there were not as many
people as there are now in Arnavutkoy. There were few
tradesmen. Arnavutkoy was cosmopolitan. There were
Greeks, Armenians, and Turks. Sometimes the French and the English have lived
here. All of them were like siblings. Candy Bairam
came, my father used to took candy to sub-district
manager. When Muslim Festival of Sacrifices came a lot of meat was sent to us,
we used to give some part of them to needy people that the people who had
brought meat to us didn’t know about”. *
Uncle Asadur said
that people who were from various nations used to live together without any
problem. They were living like brothers and sisters. Everyone used to visit
each other, congratulate their bairam. There were
Greeks, Armenians, and Turks in Arnavutkoy. This
situation was replaced by others in time, different
people came from different areas. 50-60 % of people have immigrated because of
many various reasons. 20 class soldiers, Property Tax, Sixth and Seventh
September Events made people disappear. In fact all dwellers were likebrothers. Many people who went to
Village changes in time: “Greeks went slowly,
migrations started. Furthermore, Sixth and Seventh September events
occurred, their shops were destroyed. They didn’t have the opportunity to open
a shop again so they started to migrate; they sold their houses for low prices.
Newcomers want to apply their own training here but we cannot adjust the
situation.” *
The clearest thing is Uncle Asadur’ s
deep missing of Arnavutkoy’s old people. He doesn’t
miss old life as much as old people because he hasn’t forgotten the poverty and
difficulties of daily life. But he hasn’t forgotten Arnavutkoy
people that he describes as a ‘family’. “There were Greeks in Arnavutkoy, there were less people, a
village atmosphere was existent. People used to come
their summer resort. Sea was spotlessly clean and shining, fish could be seen.
These people are absent now, man sorrows when he remembers.” *
With the deep grief which non-existence
of the old village and the people causes, Uncle Asadur
misses past very much because of the fact that the better has not been done.
* İstanbul’da Hatırlamak
ve Unutmak, Birey, Bellek ve
Aidiyet , Leyla Neyzi, Türkiye Ekonomi ve Toplumsal
Tarih Vakfı, Numune Matbaacılık, Beşiktaş/ İstanbul
1999 November
Uncle Tahsin
is one of the old residents of Arnavutkoy. He came
from Maçka, which is a
When we asked what he missed from the old days, he
answered in the following way:
“Memories, my life in the past are always in my
mind. I was a child but I found pleasure in entertainments.
If only old tradesmen would be here, it
would be
better. We were like siblings.
There is no peer of Arnavutkoy. It is unique. It is the place which has changed
less because there is not any new construction, it is forbidden. Arnavutkoy is different!”
As it can be perceived Uncle Tahsin also misses old Arnavutkoy
people, old life, old days very much.
FROM THE
One of
the most distinctive characteristics of Arnavutkoy is its architectural
structure and historical heritage that have been being threatened by the third
Ministry of Public Transportation claimed that a third Bosphorus bridge will be an effective solution for the
transportation problems in Istanbul such as congestion in the roads ending of
the both sides of the Bosphorus Bridges and in 1998,
the Highways Department of the Central Government announced its plan to
construct a third bridge across the waterway. However, the construction of a
third bridge is far from being a solution yet a great source for possible
future problems.
Inhabitants of Arnavutkoy are strongly against coming
bridges not only in Arnavutkoy but also in any place
in Bosphorus because they are aware of the dangerous
facts, which they will have to face when a bridge is built.
First
of all, a new bridge between Arnavutkoy and Kandilli puts Arnavutkoy’s
cultural and natural heritage in danger and also Kandilli’s
beautiful scenic areas will be in danger too. There is huge area needed to make
the construction of a bridge possible and this means that, if a third bridge is
built in Arnavutkoy, most of the houses which are
known as civil architecture, monumental constructions, green areas and famous “yalı”s will be destroyed for the bridge’s
construction. The rest will be in danger too because new viaducts, roads,
little bridges linking to the big one will be needed in time after the bridge
is built. There will be a great noise and air pollution over the Arnavutkoy and even the waters of Arnavutkoy
will be negatively affected from the pollution carried by the bridge. It will
be extremely harmful not only for Arnavutkoy and Kandilli but also for near residential areas such as Ulus, Etiler and Levent.
Arnavutkoy
Local Initiative Group
Inhabitants of Arnavutkoy raised their voice
for the first time before six years ago and they established a local initiative
group. The members are predominantly the dwellers of Arnavutkoy.
Ozden Danisman said that
they, the dwellers of Arnavutkoy, decided to do
something about the coming disaster and became a group in one night. For
instance, the tailor, the fruit saler, vegetable man,
butcher, coffee saler, baker, pharmacist, shoe maker
of Arnavutkoy and even the old people are in this
initiative group, just to save their neighborhood. They are trying to do
anything they can; they contribute to the group facilities as well as they can.
Ozden Danisman, Ismail Ustun and Nejla Osseiran said, “This is a
work willing”. People of Arnavutkoy are meeting on
every Sunday in Arnavutkoy’s traditional coffee houses
and they are organizing fairs on the Arnavutkoy
waterfront. They are inviting famous singers, writers, showmen and journalists
to contribute to Arnavutkoy’s facilities. They are
making research on history of Arnavutkoy, the
possible damage that will happen to Arnavutkoy when a
bridge is built and laws that do not allow bridges to be built in Bosphorus,
they are sending these research projects’ results to the newspapers, magazines,
television channels and other publication organs.
Arnavutkoy Local Initiative Group’s aim is to make people
of
This
kind of a local organization is brand new for
Arnavutkoy’s initiative is the first movement, which is
local and very effective to voice themselves to the other people of
There have been many people who refused
the third bridge by emphasizing some facts
about the two bridges over the Bosphorus. Generally,
these facts were representing that the third bridge would not be a solution to
the traffic problem in
Mete Orer (Transport Expert and a former Deputy Undersecretary
of the Ministry of Transportation, 2003) told that while the city roads on
either end of the bridges were as congested as they were, a third, a fourth,
even a fifth bridge would do no good. This meant more bridges and highway
transition would bring more cars into the city and more cars would necessitate
more bridges.
According to data collected by Prof. Dr. Gungor
Evren, since the inauguration of the
Besides those that Mete Orer and Prof. Dr. Gungor Evren fixed, traffic
accidents on bridges also indicate the weak aspect of bridges, obviously. That
is, although it is thought that bridges are necessary to ease traffic
congestion, accidents on bridges reverse this thought because they cause more
congestion. For example, a few weeks ago o lorry crashed the
As a
way of preventing the third bridge, a new project was proposed: The only long term solution to
What
are the properties of the proposed underwater tube pass? The tunnel, which will
provide a fast crossing between the two sides of
However,
there have been some concerns about whether the proposed tunnel is safe during
the possible earthquake in
Besides
the tube tunnel, there have been also different alternatives providing decrease
in the traffic problem and prevention of the third bridge. For example, some
say that if there is congestion on the highways, they should increase the
number of ships carrying passengers and vehicles. In another suggestion, some
people propose that there should be a special line for buses on the bridges in
order to provide carrying more people. For instance, Ismail
Hakkı Acar (Professor
in M.S.U.) emphasized this suggestion when he showed the roads reserved for
both buses and the cars carrying at least three passengers on the highway going
through the Bridge of Oakland Gulf in
According to the explanation of Enis Oksuz, The Minister of Public Transportation in 2000, this
project would cost 1.6-1.7 billion dollars including the expenses for periphery
arrangements. In addition, 860 million dollars of it would be spent for the
tube tunnel, which would be built at the depth of 58 meters under the sea, and the rest of it would be reserved for the
tunnel railways 13 kilometers long. Finally, the construction would be
completed after four years. Furthermore, to provide the necessary financial
resource, they had been communicating with OECF, which was a state institution
in
Although this project is of significance to the future of
Echoes in Media
Some of
the artists as well as some supporting statesmen protested this proposal by
using posters and banners with the intention of voicing their rights and
reactions against the third bridge, obviously. Film stars Mujde
Ar, Hulya Kocyigit, Rutkay Aziz, Beyazıt Ozturk, writers Orhan Pamuk, Latife Tekin,
journalist Zeynep Gogus
were stating their solidarity with the Arnavutkoy
residents.
Thus the protest marked the first time in modern
As to
what the mass media both in
RESULTS
The
oral history research of Arnavutkoy has suggested
that the social transformation that has been affected through years with number
of stages migrations and emigrations in Arnavutkoy
has influenced all social lives and relationships in the district. According to
a census conducted by the Ferry-boat Company (Şirket-i
Hayriye) at the beginning of the 20th Century, it
indicates a dramatic change of ratios between Christian and Muslim populations.
At the beginning of the 20th Century whereas there were 9 Christians to 1
Muslim, at the end of the century it became 19 Muslims to 1 Christian. The
significant movements of people in the 20th century were realized through
mutual agreement of two governments in July 1923.
According to the interview conducted with individual interviewees in the
presence of the research group, it points out that first dwellers of Arnavutkoy yearn for their past time, habits and
relationships with people in Arnavutkoy with no
ethnic, religious or ideological problems.
Another
point that this research project demonstrates is that Arnavutkoy
is still a unique district that can easily be united on a subject to protect
their village against the treat of constructing a third bridge across the
waterway. While the District Initiative of Arnavutkoy
was composing, the citizens of Arnavutkoy became
aware of that their most important inheritance in their lives was the history
of their old neighbourhood.
Although Arnavutkoy has been a historic and
multi-ethnic suburban neighbourhood for many years,
in the past Arnavutkoy’ s dwellers has succeeded in
living together in the same area several years with any ethnic or religious
controversies. Therefore, it seems that it is not only a dream that people can
live in peace. Arnavutkoy is a visionary example for
the global world.
Recently conducted to protect Arnavutkoy, the
District Initiative of Arnavutkoy has improved the
relationships of inhabitants. In addition, they have just achieved in their
major goal to some extent with the underwater tube pass. However, this does not
mean that their fight opposing the third bridge project of the government has
finished.
Nonetheless, the government should take required measures to protect the
natural form of the architectural construction of Arnavutkoy
as its cultural richness, and everybody should pay more attention to the
importance of cultural and architectural fabric of historical places such as Arnavutkoy so as to retain its natural form for the future
and next generations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
4.
Guvemli, Ozlem. “Arnavutkoy Icın Kabus.” Cumhuriyet. 31.05.2002.
5.
Kınzer, Stephen.
“A New Bridge? Not in My Backyard!” The New York Times. 06.02.1999.
6.
Moore,
Molly. “Historic Homes Torn by Times in
7.