EARLIER this year large electronic screens started popping up on street corners in Istanbul. Set up by the ruling Justice and Development (AK) party, they display a newsreel dominated since the coup attempt of July 15th by anti-coup advertisements, images of pro-democracy rallies and the slogan “Hakimiyet Milletindir” (“sovereignty belongs to the nation”). Not everyone is impressed by them. “It’s absurd,” shrugs a waiter in Nevizade, a street filled with bars, tea houses and hostels.
Since the economic liberalisation of the 1980s, Istanbul has been the site of almost-constant redevelopment and construction. Across the road from Nevizade is Tarlabasi, the site of a redevelopment scheme which has seen buildings destroyed and families displaced. Similar projects have removed thousands of Istanbul’s citizens from the centre of the city to new housing in far-flung areas. The AK news screen at the intersection of these two neighbourhoods is a reminder of the devlet baba (the “daddy state”) and its capacity to reach into the daily lives of citizens.
Intervening in and changing public space is central to the Turkish...Continue reading
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