Today, the 96th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, commemorations took place in five Turkish cities – Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Diyarbakir and Bodrum.
Leaving the university, I noticed that workers had placed a giant Turkish flag on the building’s exterior. Later, an equally large banner of Ataturk appeared on the other university annex as well.
A photo exhibition entitled “We Love Your Istanbul from the 19 Century till Today”, has recently opened at the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church in the Istanbul neighbourhood of Beyoglu.
We took the small red “nostalgic” tram at Taksim Square for the ride down Istiklal towards Beyoglu. Not to confuse readers, I should note that all this is taking place on the European side of Istanbul, which is divided by the Golden Horn into the old and new districts.
According to Fuat Keyman, Director of the Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) at Sabanci University, modern Turkey has been rapidly changing in the past ten years.
We headed up to Taksim Square. My eye caught a small red tram filled with people on their way back down Istiklal towards Beyoglu and Galata. I was reminded of a scene from Henri Verneuil’s film “Mayrik” showing a tram travelling down a cobblestone street.
A CD has just been released entitled “The Child Has Rights”. It’s a collaborative effort by the group Kardes Turkuler (Songs of Fraternity) and Arto Tuncboyaciyan.
Our bus hugged the coast of the Sea of Marmara, passing the neighbourhood of Kumkapı, the seat of the Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and Aksaray, now a commercial neighbourhood where many traders from Armenia do their wholesale shopping.