Istanbul - Anything is possible
00:00 to 00:05 open
00.04 "Noemi Fischer
Istanbul: the jewel of the Bosphorus. At this crossroads between Europe and Asia, lives gourmet restaurateur Attila Dogudan.
Dogudan is converting these derelict palaces into two luxury hotels. They are located right on the shore of the Bosphorus, the most expensive property stretch in Istanbul.
He is investing 40 million euros in this project, and hopes the hotels will be amongst the most luxurious in the world. When it comes to business, Dogudan is a typical Turk:
00:39 OT Attila Dogudan, restaurateur, DO & CO
Turks believe in the idea that anything goes, and it is this positive attitude that makes people here try things out and see if they work. There is so much opportunity out here and if we go by this principle we’re much more likely to succeed.
00:58 open
01.06: OT Attila Dogudan, restaurateur, DO & CO
To take on a project like this and see if it’ll work is a dream, a risk well worth taking. To restore these two palaces to their former glory and update them for today’s market is a perfect example of the Turkish principle in practice.
01.25: Noemi Fischer
Istanbul is louder and more chaotic than the average European city. It can be difficult for Western Europeans to digest.
01:33 OT, Attila Dogudan, restaurateur, Do & CO
A few years ago I invited a few company directors from Austria here as guests. They all said: "Wow, interesting, everything seems so normal here." So I have no idea what people expect it to be like.. Sometimes I have the impression that all the high-rise buildings, cars and roads really surprise people. (01:58)
02.00: Noemi Fischer
According to a Turkish saying, the earth in Istanbul is made of gold. The dream of rags to riches is alive here in the city.
02:10 Noemi Fischer
The city is defined by a balancing act between the mini-skirt and minaret. With 15 million inhabitants, it is the economic centre of Turkey. About a third of the country’s gross domestic product is generated here. In this evolving city full of contradictions, modernity and tradition, poverty and luxury, live side by side.
02:35: Noemi Fischer
We visit Ayse. For five years, she’s been running one of the trendiest cafes in the city: the "Happily Ever After." It is a microcosm of modern Istanbul, located in the Bebek district, an upper middle class area. It is also a stronghold of Kemalism, the ideology of the lay state in Turkey, according to which, religion and politics should be strictly separate.
Noemi Fischer
03.01: Ayse lives with her three children in a house in front of her café. To take care of the children she employs an American Nanny.
03.10: Noemi Fischer
The prevailing image in Europe is one of Turkish women being forcibly veiled and married. But Ayse sees no difference between the lives of women in Turkey and those of any other European women.
03:25: ot Ayse Kucuroglu, local owner Münir Inam
I am a Turkish woman, but I am also a citizen of the world. My family and I live like this. We could just as easily live in another country and adapt. Maybe it’s because we read and travel a lot. In any event, we feel very cosmopolitan. We don’t feel as if we were living on the edge of the world.
03:55: OT mother Daniela Kong
Yes, women are much freer than before. In student life, at work and in everyday life in general they are much freer. But women are also financially free. They can spend money as they want. Not in our time. Back in my student days I could not go out in the street when I felt like it. It was different. (4:25)
Noemi Fischer
04:26: The question of whether to wear a headscarf or not is irrelevant for Ayse. It has nothing to do with religion. Here they live with both Islamic and lay traditions.
04:38: OT mother Danielea Kong
What I’ve learnt, I try to pass on to my family. For example, I read the Koran in Arabic. I have learnt to recite prayers in Arabic. But I do not pray five times a day. I don’t have the time.
Noemi Fischer
04.58: The Istanbulites from this quarter compare their city to the likes of New York or London. But in terms of their financial situation, they belong to a small elite.
05:09 Ot Ayse Kucuroglu Münir Inam
A large portion of the people in this area live their lives as modernly as we do. Of course there are also people who do not live like this. In my neighbourhood people can easily spend €10 on dinner. In other parts of the city people don’t earn that amount in a day. Of course there's a big difference. But I think that’s just a reality of big cities.
Noemi Fischer
05:40: For Rafet this neighbourhood is still a little strange. He is the pastry chef in Ayse’s Cafe. He has lived in Istanbul for eight years. Privately, he confesses he would not normally come to this neighbourhood and certainly not to this cafe.
05.55: ot Rafet Karakus / confectioner Markus Waibel
I have nothing at all in common with the people who come here. My life and their life are poles apart.
06:07: Noemi Fischer
Rafet is well aware that only part of Istanbul lives in such modernity. He migrated from Anatolia to Istanbul to find work, along with many others. There are no jobs in his village. Rafet graduated from high school and left. Having arrived in Istanbul he did an apprenticeship as a confectioner, and then got a formal qualification. He never dreamt that one day he would be working in this quarter. To be a confectioner here is a matter of great prestige.
06:42: OT Rafet Karakus, confectioner Markus Waibel
For me working here is something very special. A luxury. It is the first time I’ve worked for such clients. I'm not used to it. My family aren’t used to it either.
06.59: Noemi Fischer
Rafet takes us out to Gültepe and into his world.
This is the real Istanbul, he says.
07:08 Noemi Fischer
More than 70 percent of Istanbul's population come from Anatolia. In the hope of work, fame or freedom, they migrate to Istanbul. (07:20 off)
07:25: Noemi Fischer
Rafet shows us the back streets of Gültepe. Here we encounter a curious group of Roma children. Nothing could feel further removed from the modern flair of the Bosphorus.
07:37
This was formerly a Gecekondu quarter. Gecekondus are the shanties built overnight by immigrants when they first arrive from the east. Two thirds of the city’s inhabitants are formerly from the Gecekondu quarter.
Gültepe is located right next to the bustling Levent business district, where the road is full of men in dark suits.
08:00: OT Rafet Karakus, confectioner, Markus Waibel
They come into this part of the city, and there is great poverty, then they go to other places and they’re faced with the greatest luxury. This is typical Istanbul. The different groups are living cheek by jowl. But the gulf between them is huge. Yes, Istanbul is a peculiar place.
08:26
Most people here come from Eastern Turkey, from Anatolia. They come here because there aren’t any opportunities to find jobs there. In recent years, more and more people have come from abroad to work here as well. For example, there are a lot of people from Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan.
08:54 Noemi Fischer
Workers toil for a minimum wage of about 270 € per month in Gültepe. Rent costs about 120 € here. The unemployment rate is nearly 17 percent.
09:13: Noemi Fischer
On the other side of town, Istanbul is a city of the super-rich. For the Austro-Turkish fashion designer Atil Kutoglu, Istanbul offers more customers than Austria ever could. According to the international media, the city has 50,000 millionaires.
09:38 Atil Kutoglu (Turkish) on,
Markus Waibel
"Look, this is for you.
Customer: Danielea Kong
No, I can’t wear anything that exposes my chest, since I had problems with my thyroid.
09:52: ot Atil Kutoglu, (German) Fashion Designer
You might think that since we are in an Islamic country women would want to cover up, and some of them do; but to be modern, they always want a low neck line and a slit in their skirts; at first this used to annoy me.
10:12: Noemi Fischer
Atil Kutoglu’s business has been open a year. His customer base in Istanbul is much more consumerist than in Vienna. In Istanbul those who have money show it; with flashy cars, fine clothes and exclusive parties. German-Turk Dogan Ilhan likes it this way.
10:32 Ot, Ilhan Dogan
When I’m in Turkey I feel important, I can be visionary, I am free to move forward, I don’t have as many obstacles. In Germany, I have a feeling that even with a lot of money, I can’t have this lifestyle.
10.50: Noemi Fischer
The confectioner, Rafet, only knows this kind of lifestyle from TV. Three months ago he got married.
11:03: ot, Rafet Karakus, confectioner Markus Waibel
Marriage is of course obligatory. If you do not marry, you can never live independently of your parents. You can never live your own life. For us real life begins when you get married.
11:21
It’s different for the rich. They don’t get married until 30 or 40, and then just because they want a child. It’s not like that for us.
11:38: Noemi fishermen
Rafet has lived with his family in Istanbul for the past eight years. At some point they want to return to their village.
Compared with their relatives who have remained in the village, they are better off in the city. The entire family saved up for eight years and bought an apartment. They also have a car. And now they want to buy a second apartment.
Yet they are adamant that they will not adopt the city lifestyle. They all agree that if you are enticed by it, you’ll go under. They live as they did in their traditional Anatolian village. Both Rafet and his brother are married to women from their village.
12:25: Mahmut Karakus, OT brother, Markus Waibel
We have a better chance of finding a woman if we come from Istanbul. Otherwise I would probably not have married. You might find that funny but in our village it's important that a man has a secure income. If you work in Istanbul, you have that.
12:43: OT Rafet, Markus Waibel
In Istanbul you have to move fast, because the city develops very quickly. You have to keep pace. Otherwise you get left behind.
12:59: Noemi Fischer
The 2009 International Millionaire’s Fair is taking place in Istanbul. Atil Kutoglu guides me through the district Nisantasi.
13:12: OT Atil Kutoglu, Fashion Designer (German)
This is the Aktipekti Street, which used to be the coal market of Istanbul and now one by one the super brands are moving in, and not just in fashion.
13:28: Noemi Fischer
Rich means modern. And modern means western. The old-established elites of the country can sense this. But this is changing. Under the Government of the AKP, Istanbul is becoming modern but staying overtly Islamic.
13:43 veiled women
13:52: OT (German), Atil Kutoglu,
Before, headscarves were increasingly associated with older people or with a certain type of conservative people. Now you can see modern women wearing Burberry trench coats in jeeps, with a headscarf on and you think: "What’s the big deal?" It's just fashion.
14:13: collage open
14:18 Noemi Fischer
These are the homes of the new elite.
Safak Cak has gained a reputation with the Turkish public as the interior designer of the religious rich; that is, the Islamic elite. The apartments he designs have captured the imagination of the Turkish public and have met with mixed reactions.
So what defines the taste of the religious conservatives?
14:51: OT Safak Cak, interior designer Markus Waibel
The difference lies in the fact that they are much more pompous. This is an American bedroom with Ottoman elements. This blend of Ottoman and American is typical of their taste.
15:25: Markus Waibel
This is a stone from the glass blowing of the Kabaa in the holy Islamic town of Mecca. It is very popular. We use it as feet for tables for example.
This group used to live much more closeted lives. I have a feeling they have now become more confident. I used to have few religious, conservative clients. Now I have many.
15.53: Noemi Fischer
The new assertiveness of the conservative social climbers is a thorn in the side of the old elites.
Criticism also comes from those in their own community who think that a Muslim ought live modestly.
16:05 Noemi Fischer
To learn more, I visit Erol Yarar in Eyüp, a traditionally important town for Muslims. Every Monday Erol Yarar invites the residents of the area to a religious lecture. He talks about Islam. He bought this house especially for these sermons. But he is a businessman, not an imam.
16:28: Noemi Fischer
Erol Yarar owns a food production company. He is also co-founder of MÜSIAD, the Industrial Association for Religious businessmen.
16:40 Noemi Fischer
In his office he told me of the boom religious business people have experienced in the last few years.
16.50: Ot, Erol Yarar, businessman Markus Waibel
It began in the 70s; MUSIAD became stronger under Prime Minister Özal. Now under Erdogan’s AKP we are reaping the benefits.
17:04: Noemi Fischer
Erol Yarar prays five times a day, as Islam prescribes. Behind his bookcase, he has created a designated place for this.
17:16: Noemi Fischer
Believers in Turkey are no longer branded as backward. Erol Yarar has nothing against luxury; he believes he can express his new identity through status symbols. Businessmen here want to be modern, but not westernised.
17:34 Erol Yarar OT, Markus Waibel
Our concern is that though we get along well with Europeans, we do not want to be like them. We do not want to develop western values. This does not mean we cannot do business together. But we have nothing in common.
17:47: Noemi Fischer
With the prosperity that the religious businessmen have enjoyed in recent years have come changes in their way of life. They are becoming increasingly consumerist. Yarar buys almost exclusively brand clothing and for entertainment he has games consoles. But ultimately he keeps away from alcohol and gambling and distributes alms, as Islam prescribes.
His wife doesn’t wear a headscarf. In Turkey, headscarves are strictly banned at state universities. She stopped wearing one as a student, and hasn’t done so since. But Amina has many friends who wear a headscarf. These women are increasingly visible in public life.
18:32 Ot, Amina Yarar, wife Danielea Kong
In a shopping centre a woman came up to us, pulled off my friend’s headscarf and started to shout at her: "What are you doing here? Women like you weren’t around before. Now you are everywhere. You’re spreading like a plague!”
19:02: Noemi Fischer
The country is divided into two camps: the Kemalists and religious Anatolians. Previously the Kemalists without headscarves were above, the religious Anatolians wearing headscarves were below. The religious-conservative AKP, which now rules the country, has changed all that. The Kemalists are losing power and suspect the AKP of trying to establish an Islamic theocratic state. They look to the state's founder Ataturk. He introduced the separation of church and state.
19.35: OT Attila Dogudan,
If you grow up being taught the history of this country you know Ataturk. There aren’t many heroes like Ataturk in the world. Basically, Ataturk is Turkey.
19.59: Noemi Fischer
Kemalism is the ideology of the state in Turkey. It includes not only secularism but also nationalism. Ataturk famously said: "Happy is the man who can say he is a Turk". Children growing up today still have this drummed into them at school.
20:17: Ot, Attila Dogudan,
To defend the fatherland at all costs is something that you both learn and live as a child here. If you come from here it’s quite normal. You don’t tend to think about it. One would, no matter what, be ‘in the war’.
20.36: Noemi Fischer
But politics and religion aside-what Atila Dogudan is really excited about in Istanbul are the economic possibilities.
He set up Turkish DO & CO 3 years ago. He also owns three replica aircraft for the training of flight personnel.
20:53 ot (German), Attila Dogudan,
Editor "is it different doing business here in Turkey rather than in Europe?
Attila: The emotion is different. It is an incredibly emotional country,in everything that they do, in a positive and a negative way. If there was no food served on a flight, for example, there would be a national uprising!
21:16: Noemi Fischer
Attila Dogudan invested in Istanbul, when others advised him not to. Since then, Turkish DO & CO has employed 2000 people. He is responsible for the catering aboard 60 national and international airlines. Dogudan is also aware of the fact that there are big social differences in Istanbul. He believes, however, the faster a broad middle class develops, the faster it will pull in others.
21:43: Atila Dogudan Ot,
The Turks now are where the Central Europeans were a few decades ago. If a new business starts up here people are highly motivated to get together and join in to get it moving. Europe is now in a defensive position, trying to preserve its wealth. In Turkey we’re not there yet.
22:09: Noemi Fischer
Perhaps it is this spirit of optimism that makes the city so attractive to the descendants of guest workers from Europe. More and more well-trained German Turks are coming back to Istanbul.
22:23: OT (German) Emine Sahin, architect,
The career I’ve built up here in 3 years, I couldn’t have done in ten years in Germany. I’ve been promoted from site manager to project manager.
22:35: OT (German) Hasan Ali San, architect
The people here are definitely just as career-oriented here as in Germany or Austria, in my opinion. But here we always have the advantage, namely of speaking both the national language and other European languages fluently.
22.55:
Although Istanbul is a big city, if you’re single it’s hard to find an apartment here.
23:01: OT Savas Barun, self
A friend of mine came to study here, as an exchange student, and because I speak slightly better Turkish than him, I looked for an apartment for us to share. We were two friends, students, wanting to live together for one year. But landlords said: No, you’ll have parties, you’ll bring people back, you have to live separately as singles.
23.26: OT Emine Sahin, architect
A friend of mine had the same problem. I introduced myself as his fiancée, and he got the apartment, because I said we were getting married this summer.
23.41: Noemi Fischer
The Beyoglu party district, with its little side streets, was always the most dangerous area of Istanbul. But the vibrant club scene has changed the neighbourhood and now it also attracts tourists.
23.55 OT Ayse Kucuroglu, Inam Münir
Before, I would not have come here as a woman alone, let alone wearing high-heeled shoes. But all that has changed. We are now really in the deepest side streets of Beyoglu. Here, the City Council has done a lot of work in the past few years. Today women can come here alone without feeling threatened.
24.17 (Ayse) walking
24.21: Noemi Fischer (slowly!)
For three months now coffeehouse owner Ayse has been running a club in Beyoglu. It has fast become the "in-club". However, this could change soon, as new bars open almost weekly here. Ayse’s Club follows the example of clubs in London, Paris or New York.
24.51: OT Ayse Kucuroglu, local owner Münir Inam
My philosophy in life is to be international. If they were to teleport this bar from here to Berlin, it would be just as popular. The goal is that anyone, be they from Paris, London or Vienna is just as happy here.
25.06: Noemi Fischer
Onur Basturk is nightlife columnist of Hürriyet, Turkey's largest newspaper. He points out that this bar and its crowd are not representative of Istanbul.
25.15: OT Onur Bastürk, columnist, 'Hurriyet' Markus Waibel
Europeans say, wow it's so great here because the women are dressed liberally. Europeans are so prejudiced. Obviously there are women who dress how they want wherever, but here women can feel comfortable. The problem is that this isn’t the standard. If they go round the corner to another restaurant, women there might not be able to behave so freely. That's what I would call the standard.
25.42: Noemi Fischer
Attila Dogudan has high standards. His hotels are among the best in the world.
Now, he wants the same standards for his native city of Istanbul. A city on the move, to be sure, but behind the beautiful facades the glaring contradictions still stand out. The city remains on the bridge, halfway between Europe and Asia.
26:20: End
00:00 to 00:05 open
00.04 "Noemi Fischer
Istanbul: the jewel of the Bosphorus. At this crossroads between Europe and Asia, lives gourmet restaurateur Attila Dogudan.
Dogudan is converting these derelict palaces into two luxury hotels. They are located right on the shore of the Bosphorus, the most expensive property stretch in Istanbul.
He is investing 40 million euros in this project, and hopes the hotels will be amongst the most luxurious in the world. When it comes to business, Dogudan is a typical Turk:
00:39 OT Attila Dogudan, restaurateur, DO & CO
Turks believe in the idea that anything goes, and it is this positive attitude that makes people here try things out and see if they work. There is so much opportunity out here and if we go by this principle we’re much more likely to succeed.
00:58 open
01.06: OT Attila Dogudan, restaurateur, DO & CO
To take on a project like this and see if it’ll work is a dream, a risk well worth taking. To restore these two palaces to their former glory and update them for today’s market is a perfect example of the Turkish principle in practice.
01.25: Noemi Fischer
Istanbul is louder and more chaotic than the average European city. It can be difficult for Western Europeans to digest.
01:33 OT, Attila Dogudan, restaurateur, Do & CO
A few years ago I invited a few company directors from Austria here as guests. They all said: "Wow, interesting, everything seems so normal here." So I have no idea what people expect it to be like.. Sometimes I have the impression that all the high-rise buildings, cars and roads really surprise people. (01:58)
02.00: Noemi Fischer
According to a Turkish saying, the earth in Istanbul is made of gold. The dream of rags to riches is alive here in the city.
02:10 Noemi Fischer
The city is defined by a balancing act between the mini-skirt and minaret. With 15 million inhabitants, it is the economic centre of Turkey. About a third of the country’s gross domestic product is generated here. In this evolving city full of contradictions, modernity and tradition, poverty and luxury, live side by side.
02:35: Noemi Fischer
We visit Ayse. For five years, she’s been running one of the trendiest cafes in the city: the "Happily Ever After." It is a microcosm of modern Istanbul, located in the Bebek district, an upper middle class area. It is also a stronghold of Kemalism, the ideology of the lay state in Turkey, according to which, religion and politics should be strictly separate.
Noemi Fischer
03.01: Ayse lives with her three children in a house in front of her café. To take care of the children she employs an American Nanny.
03.10: Noemi Fischer
The prevailing image in Europe is one of Turkish women being forcibly veiled and married. But Ayse sees no difference between the lives of women in Turkey and those of any other European women.
03:25: ot Ayse Kucuroglu, local owner Münir Inam
I am a Turkish woman, but I am also a citizen of the world. My family and I live like this. We could just as easily live in another country and adapt. Maybe it’s because we read and travel a lot. In any event, we feel very cosmopolitan. We don’t feel as if we were living on the edge of the world.
03:55: OT mother Daniela Kong
Yes, women are much freer than before. In student life, at work and in everyday life in general they are much freer. But women are also financially free. They can spend money as they want. Not in our time. Back in my student days I could not go out in the street when I felt like it. It was different. (4:25)
Noemi Fischer
04:26: The question of whether to wear a headscarf or not is irrelevant for Ayse. It has nothing to do with religion. Here they live with both Islamic and lay traditions.
04:38: OT mother Danielea Kong
What I’ve learnt, I try to pass on to my family. For example, I read the Koran in Arabic. I have learnt to recite prayers in Arabic. But I do not pray five times a day. I don’t have the time.
Noemi Fischer
04.58: The Istanbulites from this quarter compare their city to the likes of New York or London. But in terms of their financial situation, they belong to a small elite.
05:09 Ot Ayse Kucuroglu Münir Inam
A large portion of the people in this area live their lives as modernly as we do. Of course there are also people who do not live like this. In my neighbourhood people can easily spend €10 on dinner. In other parts of the city people don’t earn that amount in a day. Of course there's a big difference. But I think that’s just a reality of big cities.
Noemi Fischer
05:40: For Rafet this neighbourhood is still a little strange. He is the pastry chef in Ayse’s Cafe. He has lived in Istanbul for eight years. Privately, he confesses he would not normally come to this neighbourhood and certainly not to this cafe.
05.55: ot Rafet Karakus / confectioner Markus Waibel
I have nothing at all in common with the people who come here. My life and their life are poles apart.
06:07: Noemi Fischer
Rafet is well aware that only part of Istanbul lives in such modernity. He migrated from Anatolia to Istanbul to find work, along with many others. There are no jobs in his village. Rafet graduated from high school and left. Having arrived in Istanbul he did an apprenticeship as a confectioner, and then got a formal qualification. He never dreamt that one day he would be working in this quarter. To be a confectioner here is a matter of great prestige.
06:42: OT Rafet Karakus, confectioner Markus Waibel
For me working here is something very special. A luxury. It is the first time I’ve worked for such clients. I'm not used to it. My family aren’t used to it either.
06.59: Noemi Fischer
Rafet takes us out to Gültepe and into his world.
This is the real Istanbul, he says.
07:08 Noemi Fischer
More than 70 percent of Istanbul's population come from Anatolia. In the hope of work, fame or freedom, they migrate to Istanbul. (07:20 off)
07:25: Noemi Fischer
Rafet shows us the back streets of Gültepe. Here we encounter a curious group of Roma children. Nothing could feel further removed from the modern flair of the Bosphorus.
07:37
This was formerly a Gecekondu quarter. Gecekondus are the shanties built overnight by immigrants when they first arrive from the east. Two thirds of the city’s inhabitants are formerly from the Gecekondu quarter.
Gültepe is located right next to the bustling Levent business district, where the road is full of men in dark suits.
08:00: OT Rafet Karakus, confectioner, Markus Waibel
They come into this part of the city, and there is great poverty, then they go to other places and they’re faced with the greatest luxury. This is typical Istanbul. The different groups are living cheek by jowl. But the gulf between them is huge. Yes, Istanbul is a peculiar place.
08:26
Most people here come from Eastern Turkey, from Anatolia. They come here because there aren’t any opportunities to find jobs there. In recent years, more and more people have come from abroad to work here as well. For example, there are a lot of people from Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan.
08:54 Noemi Fischer
Workers toil for a minimum wage of about 270 € per month in Gültepe. Rent costs about 120 € here. The unemployment rate is nearly 17 percent.
09:13: Noemi Fischer
On the other side of town, Istanbul is a city of the super-rich. For the Austro-Turkish fashion designer Atil Kutoglu, Istanbul offers more customers than Austria ever could. According to the international media, the city has 50,000 millionaires.
09:38 Atil Kutoglu (Turkish) on,
Markus Waibel
"Look, this is for you.
Customer: Danielea Kong
No, I can’t wear anything that exposes my chest, since I had problems with my thyroid.
09:52: ot Atil Kutoglu, (German) Fashion Designer
You might think that since we are in an Islamic country women would want to cover up, and some of them do; but to be modern, they always want a low neck line and a slit in their skirts; at first this used to annoy me.
10:12: Noemi Fischer
Atil Kutoglu’s business has been open a year. His customer base in Istanbul is much more consumerist than in Vienna. In Istanbul those who have money show it; with flashy cars, fine clothes and exclusive parties. German-Turk Dogan Ilhan likes it this way.
10:32 Ot, Ilhan Dogan
When I’m in Turkey I feel important, I can be visionary, I am free to move forward, I don’t have as many obstacles. In Germany, I have a feeling that even with a lot of money, I can’t have this lifestyle.
10.50: Noemi Fischer
The confectioner, Rafet, only knows this kind of lifestyle from TV. Three months ago he got married.
11:03: ot, Rafet Karakus, confectioner Markus Waibel
Marriage is of course obligatory. If you do not marry, you can never live independently of your parents. You can never live your own life. For us real life begins when you get married.
11:21
It’s different for the rich. They don’t get married until 30 or 40, and then just because they want a child. It’s not like that for us.
11:38: Noemi fishermen
Rafet has lived with his family in Istanbul for the past eight years. At some point they want to return to their village.
Compared with their relatives who have remained in the village, they are better off in the city. The entire family saved up for eight years and bought an apartment. They also have a car. And now they want to buy a second apartment.
Yet they are adamant that they will not adopt the city lifestyle. They all agree that if you are enticed by it, you’ll go under. They live as they did in their traditional Anatolian village. Both Rafet and his brother are married to women from their village.
12:25: Mahmut Karakus, OT brother, Markus Waibel
We have a better chance of finding a woman if we come from Istanbul. Otherwise I would probably not have married. You might find that funny but in our village it's important that a man has a secure income. If you work in Istanbul, you have that.
12:43: OT Rafet, Markus Waibel
In Istanbul you have to move fast, because the city develops very quickly. You have to keep pace. Otherwise you get left behind.
12:59: Noemi Fischer
The 2009 International Millionaire’s Fair is taking place in Istanbul. Atil Kutoglu guides me through the district Nisantasi.
13:12: OT Atil Kutoglu, Fashion Designer (German)
This is the Aktipekti Street, which used to be the coal market of Istanbul and now one by one the super brands are moving in, and not just in fashion.
13:28: Noemi Fischer
Rich means modern. And modern means western. The old-established elites of the country can sense this. But this is changing. Under the Government of the AKP, Istanbul is becoming modern but staying overtly Islamic.
13:43 veiled women
13:52: OT (German), Atil Kutoglu,
Before, headscarves were increasingly associated with older people or with a certain type of conservative people. Now you can see modern women wearing Burberry trench coats in jeeps, with a headscarf on and you think: "What’s the big deal?" It's just fashion.
14:13: collage open
14:18 Noemi Fischer
These are the homes of the new elite.
Safak Cak has gained a reputation with the Turkish public as the interior designer of the religious rich; that is, the Islamic elite. The apartments he designs have captured the imagination of the Turkish public and have met with mixed reactions.
So what defines the taste of the religious conservatives?
14:51: OT Safak Cak, interior designer Markus Waibel
The difference lies in the fact that they are much more pompous. This is an American bedroom with Ottoman elements. This blend of Ottoman and American is typical of their taste.
15:25: Markus Waibel
This is a stone from the glass blowing of the Kabaa in the holy Islamic town of Mecca. It is very popular. We use it as feet for tables for example.
This group used to live much more closeted lives. I have a feeling they have now become more confident. I used to have few religious, conservative clients. Now I have many.
15.53: Noemi Fischer
The new assertiveness of the conservative social climbers is a thorn in the side of the old elites.
Criticism also comes from those in their own community who think that a Muslim ought live modestly.
16:05 Noemi Fischer
To learn more, I visit Erol Yarar in Eyüp, a traditionally important town for Muslims. Every Monday Erol Yarar invites the residents of the area to a religious lecture. He talks about Islam. He bought this house especially for these sermons. But he is a businessman, not an imam.
16:28: Noemi Fischer
Erol Yarar owns a food production company. He is also co-founder of MÜSIAD, the Industrial Association for Religious businessmen.
16:40 Noemi Fischer
In his office he told me of the boom religious business people have experienced in the last few years.
16.50: Ot, Erol Yarar, businessman Markus Waibel
It began in the 70s; MUSIAD became stronger under Prime Minister Özal. Now under Erdogan’s AKP we are reaping the benefits.
17:04: Noemi Fischer
Erol Yarar prays five times a day, as Islam prescribes. Behind his bookcase, he has created a designated place for this.
17:16: Noemi Fischer
Believers in Turkey are no longer branded as backward. Erol Yarar has nothing against luxury; he believes he can express his new identity through status symbols. Businessmen here want to be modern, but not westernised.
17:34 Erol Yarar OT, Markus Waibel
Our concern is that though we get along well with Europeans, we do not want to be like them. We do not want to develop western values. This does not mean we cannot do business together. But we have nothing in common.
17:47: Noemi Fischer
With the prosperity that the religious businessmen have enjoyed in recent years have come changes in their way of life. They are becoming increasingly consumerist. Yarar buys almost exclusively brand clothing and for entertainment he has games consoles. But ultimately he keeps away from alcohol and gambling and distributes alms, as Islam prescribes.
His wife doesn’t wear a headscarf. In Turkey, headscarves are strictly banned at state universities. She stopped wearing one as a student, and hasn’t done so since. But Amina has many friends who wear a headscarf. These women are increasingly visible in public life.
18:32 Ot, Amina Yarar, wife Danielea Kong
In a shopping centre a woman came up to us, pulled off my friend’s headscarf and started to shout at her: "What are you doing here? Women like you weren’t around before. Now you are everywhere. You’re spreading like a plague!”
19:02: Noemi Fischer
The country is divided into two camps: the Kemalists and religious Anatolians. Previously the Kemalists without headscarves were above, the religious Anatolians wearing headscarves were below. The religious-conservative AKP, which now rules the country, has changed all that. The Kemalists are losing power and suspect the AKP of trying to establish an Islamic theocratic state. They look to the state's founder Ataturk. He introduced the separation of church and state.
19.35: OT Attila Dogudan,
If you grow up being taught the history of this country you know Ataturk. There aren’t many heroes like Ataturk in the world. Basically, Ataturk is Turkey.
19.59: Noemi Fischer
Kemalism is the ideology of the state in Turkey. It includes not only secularism but also nationalism. Ataturk famously said: "Happy is the man who can say he is a Turk". Children growing up today still have this drummed into them at school.
20:17: Ot, Attila Dogudan,
To defend the fatherland at all costs is something that you both learn and live as a child here. If you come from here it’s quite normal. You don’t tend to think about it. One would, no matter what, be ‘in the war’.
20.36: Noemi Fischer
But politics and religion aside-what Atila Dogudan is really excited about in Istanbul are the economic possibilities.
He set up Turkish DO & CO 3 years ago. He also owns three replica aircraft for the training of flight personnel.
20:53 ot (German), Attila Dogudan,
Editor "is it different doing business here in Turkey rather than in Europe?
Attila: The emotion is different. It is an incredibly emotional country,in everything that they do, in a positive and a negative way. If there was no food served on a flight, for example, there would be a national uprising!
21:16: Noemi Fischer
Attila Dogudan invested in Istanbul, when others advised him not to. Since then, Turkish DO & CO has employed 2000 people. He is responsible for the catering aboard 60 national and international airlines. Dogudan is also aware of the fact that there are big social differences in Istanbul. He believes, however, the faster a broad middle class develops, the faster it will pull in others.
21:43: Atila Dogudan Ot,
The Turks now are where the Central Europeans were a few decades ago. If a new business starts up here people are highly motivated to get together and join in to get it moving. Europe is now in a defensive position, trying to preserve its wealth. In Turkey we’re not there yet.
22:09: Noemi Fischer
Perhaps it is this spirit of optimism that makes the city so attractive to the descendants of guest workers from Europe. More and more well-trained German Turks are coming back to Istanbul.
22:23: OT (German) Emine Sahin, architect,
The career I’ve built up here in 3 years, I couldn’t have done in ten years in Germany. I’ve been promoted from site manager to project manager.
22:35: OT (German) Hasan Ali San, architect
The people here are definitely just as career-oriented here as in Germany or Austria, in my opinion. But here we always have the advantage, namely of speaking both the national language and other European languages fluently.
22.55:
Although Istanbul is a big city, if you’re single it’s hard to find an apartment here.
23:01: OT Savas Barun, self
A friend of mine came to study here, as an exchange student, and because I speak slightly better Turkish than him, I looked for an apartment for us to share. We were two friends, students, wanting to live together for one year. But landlords said: No, you’ll have parties, you’ll bring people back, you have to live separately as singles.
23.26: OT Emine Sahin, architect
A friend of mine had the same problem. I introduced myself as his fiancée, and he got the apartment, because I said we were getting married this summer.
23.41: Noemi Fischer
The Beyoglu party district, with its little side streets, was always the most dangerous area of Istanbul. But the vibrant club scene has changed the neighbourhood and now it also attracts tourists.
23.55 OT Ayse Kucuroglu, Inam Münir
Before, I would not have come here as a woman alone, let alone wearing high-heeled shoes. But all that has changed. We are now really in the deepest side streets of Beyoglu. Here, the City Council has done a lot of work in the past few years. Today women can come here alone without feeling threatened.
24.17 (Ayse) walking
24.21: Noemi Fischer (slowly!)
For three months now coffeehouse owner Ayse has been running a club in Beyoglu. It has fast become the "in-club". However, this could change soon, as new bars open almost weekly here. Ayse’s Club follows the example of clubs in London, Paris or New York.
24.51: OT Ayse Kucuroglu, local owner Münir Inam
My philosophy in life is to be international. If they were to teleport this bar from here to Berlin, it would be just as popular. The goal is that anyone, be they from Paris, London or Vienna is just as happy here.
25.06: Noemi Fischer
Onur Basturk is nightlife columnist of Hürriyet, Turkey's largest newspaper. He points out that this bar and its crowd are not representative of Istanbul.
25.15: OT Onur Bastürk, columnist, 'Hurriyet' Markus Waibel
Europeans say, wow it's so great here because the women are dressed liberally. Europeans are so prejudiced. Obviously there are women who dress how they want wherever, but here women can feel comfortable. The problem is that this isn’t the standard. If they go round the corner to another restaurant, women there might not be able to behave so freely. That's what I would call the standard.
25.42: Noemi Fischer
Attila Dogudan has high standards. His hotels are among the best in the world.
Now, he wants the same standards for his native city of Istanbul. A city on the move, to be sure, but behind the beautiful facades the glaring contradictions still stand out. The city remains on the bridge, halfway between Europe and Asia.
26:20: End