Tables (not yet) turned

Much has been said and written about the missing tables and chairs in the Istanbul neighbourhood of Beyoğlu, an area marketed as the city’s hip party district for over a decade. On an apparent whim, the local municipality ordered the removal of every outdoor table, chair, beanbag or stool, leaving behind an angry and bewildered crowd of patrons and local business owners increasingly struggling to make a living.

Sofyali Sokak.   June 2010 © Yigal Schleifer  /  Sept 2011 © Jonathan Lewis

These so-called “table operations” (“masa operasyonları” in Turkish) that started on July 20 have sparked protests, more protests, and discussions about urban public space and its use. While some argue that Istanbul should have outdoor seating because other “famous cities” – London, Paris, Vienna, New York – have it, others question the idea of urban management altogether: if the chairs and tables were a such a major problem, why was it not addressed earlier and in a more strategic manner? And what about the disturbing noise from roof terraces?

The “operations” were in several cases carried out quite rudely, with police and municipal police (zabita) pulling chairs and tables from underneath dining patrons. Several restaurants, bars and eateries lost their outdoor furniture altogether when the police threw it onto the back of trucks and drove it off to the municipality’s depots. Other venues heeded the municipality’s warning to remove their chairs and tables from the streets before they could be confiscated.

The municipality’s first official declaration of this disputed measure came one week after the fact: According to its press release, business owners had – despite warnings – disregarded the official confines of outside seating and were thus obstructing traffic, including the passage of rescue vehicles in the event of an emergency. The municipality, it said, would now work on a new master plan for Beyoğlu.

One month later, the tables and chairs were still gone, and none of the business owners we spoke to knew what the master plan would look like, or, almost more importantly, when it would be put into practice. On August 21, a Sunday, the usually bustling streets in Tünel and Asmalımescit are all but deserted.

A sign outside a bar advertises cheap tequila shots and Efes, but the tables inside are completely empty. Mehmet Papatya, who has been working here for seven years and lives above the bar, says: “The rents in this district are very high – we pay 6,000 TL every month for the space alone. In order to cover all costs, we need to have tables outside, even if there are only two.” The bar used to have four tables that have been taken away by the zabita – without prior warning, according to Papatya. “Nobody here pays rent at the moment. Our landlord is on holiday, we’ll talk with him when he comes back. There are only two possibilities, though: he will either grant us a rent reduction, or we will have to close down.” Papatya is not sure why the municipality suddenly cracked down on outside seating: “This is not a normal residential neighbourhood, this is a place that fuels the tourism business. Most people that live here are people that also work in this district. There were no complaints.”

Fatih Korkunç, the owner of a spacious bar further down the street, agrees: “I don’t understand why they make such an effort [to quiet this district down.] This is not a neighbourhood where families live. Beyoğlu is a place of entertainment, of tourism! Why don’t they leave us alone?”

However, according to the Beyoğlu Municipality, over the first seven months of this year 1,066 formal complaints have been made by people about not being able to pass by on the street next to restaurants and bars, as well as 868 formal complaints about garbage being left out on the street. At least one gallery manager in Asmalımescit said that neighbouring bar and restaurant owners put tables and chairs in front of his door, and refused to remove them.

Unfortunately it is unknown how many of the 1066 complaints cited by the municipality came from drivers who were unable to squeeze past restaurant tables in motorised vehicles. Rumour has it that the “table operations” were initiated by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose motorcade got stuck amid outdoor urban furniture on its way to the Galata Mevlevihanesi before the beginning of Ramadan, and who promptly ordered the removal of the obstructing chairs and tables.

Tahir Berrak Karasu, the deputy head of the Association for Beyoğlu Entertainment Locations (BEYDER), said in an interview: “[Beyoğlu Mayor] Demircan would not have the courage and the power to pull off such a radical operation all by himself. And why would he? For years he has lauded himself for turning Beyoğlu into a lively tourism and entertainment district. Why would he destroy that?”

Mehmet Aktaş, who works in a traditional meyhane on Sofyalı Sokak says the restaurant is having serious trouble staying open: “We used to have about 18 tables outside, with room for 40 to 50 people. Now we have three tables left. Five out of eight employees are on unpaid leave, we are really struggling.” Like many bars and restaurants on Sofyalı Sokak, they, too, have seen their revenues fall by almost 80percent. “At this rate, we won’t survive very long. Restaurants and bars will start to close. This street will be dead without them.” Aktaş points out that the restaurants will not be the only businesses affected by the municipality’s policy: “We buy from fishermen, butchers and green grocers. Our restaurant used to buy 150TL to 200TL worth of fish daily from a local fisherman. Now we can only afford to buy fish for 20TL to 30TL every day.” He shrugs. “This will affect a much broader local economy. Even the children selling Kleenex on the streets will make less money.”

The owners of two small corner shops on Sofyalı Sokak agree; both have seen their business drop by about 80 percent. Many wonder why the Beyoğlu Municipality deliberately risks such economic loss, and the loss of so many jobs: According to bianet.org, the number of layoffs stands at 2,000 after only one month.

Alican, who works as a chef at Kahve Pi, thinks that this burning debate is far from finished: “The municipality secures an important income with the taxes and fees that restaurant and bar owners have to pay. They cannot possibly want to lose that! My guess is that they will give us the tables back, maybe there will be fewer of them, and maybe the fee for each will be higher, but they will give them back.” However, he underlines that the present situation should not drag on for too long: “Asmalımescit – this whole area – had a certain atmosphere, a soul. This soul is about to expire.”

While the mayor of Beyoğlu, AKP politician Ahmet Misbah Demircan, has on several occasions talked about three different action plans for local businesses, no official announcements have been made as of yet. On August 27, the Turkish daily Radikal presented one possible “solution” to the table dilemma offered by the municipality: the 70cm balcony. So far, only one restaurant – Café Ist on Istiklal Caddesi – has put the idea into practice, at a price of 20,000 TL.

However, Tahir Berrak Karasu said: “Most members of our association reject this idea. For most it is not even feasible. It is illegal to add a balcony or terrace willy-nilly to a grade 1 listed building for example.” And he adds: “What is more important is that there is no written guarantee from the municipality, no document to show that this ‘solution’ has been authorized by the municipality. What if they change their mind again?”

According to Radikal, the guidelines given by the municipality are indeed quite vague: the balcony should be “chic” and not cheap-looking, but business owners could decide for themselves about the final design of their 70 cm terrace. A more recent Radikal report states that restaurants and bars that are for some reason unable to implement the balcony solution – as for example Helvetia Café on Asmalımescit Sokak – will not be allowed to put tables and chairs back out on the street at all.

Erol, a publisher enjoying a beer while sitting on a window sill at Kahve Pi, has been working in an office just off Sofyali Sokak for eight years: “About 15 years ago it must have been a little like this here, very quiet. And to be honest, the silence is quite nice. But of course from the point of view of the local business owners, this silence is not a good thing.” Did he ever feel disturbed by the noise? “If you want to feel disturbed, you could. Cuba Bar below our office turns on the music at full blast around 5pm. But that’s what happens in a neighbourhood like Beyoğlu.” He adds: “In Istanbul, there are not very many neighbourhoods left where you can sit and have a drink. So the people started to come here. In a city of over 10 million people, a neighbourhood like Beyoğlu will of course be loud and crowded.” He thinks that the municipality is not completely in the wrong: “All of this developed without plan or structure. Rules were not always followed. It is important to listen to both sides of the story.” It seems that listening – or communicating in general – is not a priority in the municipality’s new master plan. Both BEYDER and individual business owners complain about the total lack of dialogue and the more crucial necessity of short-term information. While there are rumours that tables and chairs would come back – in some form – after the Eid holidays, the authorities have largely remained quiet on the topic, consoling inquirers with the vague promise that “they were working on it.” Karasu of BEYDER says that this has not always been so: “After BEYDER was founded in 2000, we held regular meetings with the mayor and the municipality. Everything was discussed together. Now they don’t even answer the phone anymore when we call.” Bariş Deniz, who has been running a dürüm and börek eatery on Asmalımescit Sokak for 40 years, has put stacks of wooden fruit crates in front of his shop, makeshift tables in lieu of the three tables he used to have until the zabita took them away. “May I present the new furniture collection?” he laughs. “Courtesy of our dear Prime Minister.” He does not sell any alcoholic beverages, and says that he has always paid the monthly table fee of 235 TL; 75 TL per table. “I have made a 90percent loss in one month”, he says, shaking his head in disbelief. “God bless Tayyip for his generosity.”

See Jennifer’s take on the table operations here.