Pushcart stock exchange pushed aside by times

A center of trade and foreign exchange since Ottoman times, Tahtakale provides Turkey with an old-fashioned face to a global phenomenon. However, the times are a’ changing and trading, more like street haggling, based on trust, credibility and people relations in Tahtakale, is being replaced by computers and contracts

ONUR BURÇAK BELLİ
ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News

Turkey's financial heart has beaten in Istanbul's central Tahtakale area for centuries, but trade based on street haggling – where one doesn't cheat because it would harm one's credibility on the streets – is slowly becoming the latest victim of globalization, with its computers, contracts and international ties.

Istanbul's Eminönü district has been the center of trade ever since Ottoman times. Turkey learned private entrepreneurship and the free market economy there.

Yeni Camii (New Mosque) stands in the heart of this neighborhood, surrounded by a cluster of small sectors that specialize in trading specific goods. Behind Yeni Camii, stands the famous Spice Bazaar. Walking through the Spice Bazaar, the streets to the left open to Tahtakale, which is thought to be the center of the “pushcart stock market,” where the exchange rates of the free market are still determined. On every corner of the small, dark dead-end streets, it is possible to see clusters of people, mainly men, with wireless telephones in their ears, competing for exchange or gold, shouting and negotiating, making it clear why it is called the “pushcart stock market.”

On a Thursday afternoon, Cevahir Kaygusuz, 45, was negotiating with one of the exchange dealers for a huge amount of dollars. The words “I bought” and “Best wishes” filled the street amid the cluster of almost 50 men, however the nervous atmosphere was still there. Kaygusuz took his wireless phone, said, “50 for Friday,” and noted something in his notebook that he took out of his jacket's inner pocket. “Good deal!” he said, however there was no money, no deeds or slips.

“I have been in this since I was wearing shorts. It has been 25 years. If you cannot trust people, or if you are not trusted, you cannot do business here,” he said, explaining he had just bought $50,000 and the dealer would bring the money Friday.

The energy and the mood of the people in Tahtakale are not very different from those shouting on the floor of a stock exchange. Only the surroundings seem strange.

The words “I bought” and “Best wishes” mean an item of business has been completed and there is no way to go back on it. If one party fails to keep their word, he would lose his street credibility. The pushcart stock market has its own rules that are not written or registered. Its members are known to all, even if they have no membership card. No outsiders can join in the fun. And contracts have no place here. Their word is as good as a contract.

Always there when the going is tough:

Tahtakale has always been a center where various imported goods are traded wholesale. Whenever the exchange rates fluctuate, Tahtakale and the pushcart stock exchange come under the media spotlight.

Surrounded by the fresh produce wholesale market, dry foods wholesale market, the first stock exchange building of the Ottoman Empire and commodities exchange building and many other wholesale and retail venues, Tahtakale is utilizing its location to the fullest and has become a key commercial center, said Ege Cansen, economy columnist for daily Hürriyet.

“There are certain addresses in economies, where the buyers and sellers in various numbers come together in a place. So if someone needs foreign exchange or gold in Turkey, they need to go to Tahtakale,” he said.

Before the 1980s, Turkey had a closed economy. The Turkish lira was protected by law and was not exchanged on international markets. Apart from the goods that could be imported via legal means, all other goods would be smuggled and traded in that period.

These under-the-counter-sales were also common but done in secret. For these illegal imports, foreign currency would be needed and that's where Tahtakale stepped in. Needs would pass through whispers and secret purchases would take place in one of Tahtakale's little shops. This is why, when the subject is foreign exchange or gold, it is impossible not to mention Tahtakale.

The dawn of a new age:

Until the 1980s in particular, the pushcart stock exchange operated as an “underground stock exchange” due to the law that restricted imports and foreign currency trade. This underground stock exchange became “pushcart” following the regulations after Jan. 24, 1980 that envisioned a new and comprehensive stability program.

Tahtakale was also a stop for people going overseas. Turks could buy a certain amount of foreign currency by showing their passports and could sell them to banks or the Central Bank. Tahtakale was a good source for them to avoid the paperwork.

However, as the 1980s rolled along and the Turkish economy began to open to the world, the need for Tahtakale started to diminish. In 1986, the government allowed currency exchange offices, with one on almost every street in the country by the 1990s.

“Since then, with the growing number of exchange offices, banks, Internet banking as well as the minor fluctuations in exchange rates due to the condition of the economy, Tahtakale has been losing blood,” said Mehmet Ali Yıldırımtürk, an economy columnist and a shop owner in the Grand Bazaar.

Yıldırımtürk, who has been a member of Tahtakale's trader community for the last 38 years, in his book on the history of Tahtakale and the pushcart stock exchange “Our Wall Street,” tells how Tahtakale lost its significance as the number of banks and exchange offices increased.

“Especially after the foreign exchange bourse was opened under the Central Bank's auspices in August 1988, which was a significant step toward freely determining exchange rates based on supply and demand, Tahtakale was being seen more as the free market,” said Yıldırımtürk, implying it was the first event to signify the danger faced by Tahtakale.

Even though the modern age and globalization have dealt a blow to the fortunes of the traders in Tahtakale over the last 20 years, the battle is far from over. While studies show the number of visitors to Tahtakale has decreased by 50 percent in recent times, both Cansen and Yıldırımtürk, as well as many of the traders in the dead-end dark streets of Tahtakale believe it has not lost its importance for the economy yet.

Turk barber faces execution for swearing

A Turkish barber accused of swearing at God is sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia, with his family back in Turkey calling on authorities to intervene.

Sabri Boğday from the southern Hatay province went to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia 11 years ago and opened a barbershop.

According to reports, Boğday argued with his neighbor, an Egyptian tailor, and was arrested after the tailor told the police that he had sworn at God.

While Boğday has been in prison for the past 13 months, the Egyptian who made the allegation has disappeared.

When he was sentenced to death in the last court session and prison authorities came to his cell and told him to call his family for the last time, the family panicked and is now calling for Turkish authorities to intervene. The family also fears Boğday might be executed before the appeals court deals with the matter.

His mother Atra Boğday said her son is a very polite and God-fearing individual, dismissing the claims that he had sworn at God. �His Egyptian neighbor lied. His biggest wish was to save enough money to buy a house for us. But now they will execute him if authorities don't intervene,� she said.

His wife Muazzez said their son was three months old when Sabri was jailed. �I confronted the tailor when my husband's friends told me what happened. He said it's none of his business. We later learnt that he closed down his shop and fled. He didn't attend a single court session.�

Muazzez Boğday said her husband knew the laws of Saudi Arabia well and would never swear. �Even if he did, he would never swear at God. He knows what the punishment would be,� she said.

Boğday's appeal is expected to be heard within 15 days.

A nod as Barroso exits

Opposition parties convey their demands and concerns on secularism, party closures and cultural rights, as well as their doubts concerning the European Union’s relations with Turkey during EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso’s visit to Parliament. Barroso tries to ensure that his opinions do not carry any intention of interference in Turkish politics, but also says that Europe cares for the preservation of some values

ANKARA - TDN Parliament Bureau

European Union Commission President José Manuel Barroso received his share of subtle messages from every opposition party leader he met Thursday evening.

Deniz Baykal, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), emphasized secularism and the closure case, while the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) warned Barroso not to interfere with the judiciary. Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) leader, Ahmet Türk, insisted that “cultural and political rights should be granted,” and claimed that the [outlawed] Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was a result, rather than a reason, of Turkey’s Kurdish problem.

Barroso started his tour with Baykal in his office at Parliament. Baykal opted for an implicit way of referring to the closure case by underlining secularism. “Without secularism, there will be no democracy. Some newspaper articles that appear in Europe claim that Turkey can sacrifice secularism for the sake of democracy. That is impossible. Europe did not pass through this experience. Our problem with secularism is not the same as yours,” said Baykal.

Turkey’s Chief Public Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya filed a closure case against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on March 14, arguing that the party’s officials follow an agenda to turn Turkey into an Islamic state. The CHP frequently accuses the AKP of nurturing similar motives, and has already brought government-sponsored constitutional changes to allow the wearing of the headscarf at universities before the Constitutional Court for annulment.

World public opinion should understand and respect the fact that Turkey struggles to confront difficulties to guarantee democracy, secularism and the rule of law while working on its own realities, Baykal noted.

Barroso responded by stressing that the EU insists on three major points, namely democracy, constitutionality and secularism, and stressed that three must go together.

Bahçeli intervenes against intervention

Barroso’s second stop in Parliament was Bahçeli’s office, where the closure case was openly discussed. Barroso asked Bahçeli’s opinion on the case. “Our Constitution includes articles on party closures. The chief public prosecutor filed the closure case according to these articles. The process continues and we cannot accept any intervention from within or from the outside. Everyone should avoid such an act,” Bahçeli warned. Barroso argued that his speech contained general opinions and asked the MHP president not to perceive these opinions as interference with the judicial process. Bahçeli told Barroso that the Turkish people were disappointed at “the EU’s double standards and impositions.” “I hope that the feelings of disappointment will end with your visit,” Bahçeli said.

DTP’s presence in Parliament is fortunate

Barroso met with the DTP’s Ahmet Türk as his last visit, which took 45 minutes and was the longest of all. “We are asked to condemn the PKK. The PKK is a result of the Kurdish problem. We think that it should be understood as such. Kurds must be granted cultural and political rights. We can then put forward our reaction and say ‘there is no logical basis to this armed struggle,’” Türk said and claimed that his party was always opposed to violence. “If they continue with armed acts despite the granting of rights, we will admit that their acts are terrorism. If the Kurdish problem is to be solved, if there is sincerity on the issue, we must be accepted as interlocutors,” Türk said.

Another closure case against the DTP is still in progress, based on claims that the party provides logistical and ideological support to the terrorist PKK. The DTP refuses, to the contempt of other political parties, to label the PKK as a terrorist organization.

Borroso stated in his answer that the DTP’s presence in Parliament was fortunate. “The EU cares for the DTP’s presence in Parliament the most. We want the DTP to support Turkey’s EU accession bid. We think that this process will help in the expansion of cultural and political rights,” Barroso said.

Istanbul's last pork butcher fights Islamist crackdown on swine

Lazari Kozmaoğlu, Istanbul's last pork butcher, takes a break from a two-hour backgammon session to recall the days he spent slicing bacon instead of rolling dice.

Eight workers used to rush in and out of the cutting room, placing wrapped meat in refrigerators, Kozmaoğlu, 63, recalled in his store in central Istanbul. Today the shop is down to its last two months of stock and attracts only a handful of customers.Turkey's Islamist-rooted government has clamped down on the pork industry since 2004, closing all but two of the country's 25 pig farms and revoking slaughterhouse licenses. Kozmaoğlu, unable to add to his meat supplies, spends most of his time shuffling paperwork as he seeks permission to reopen his abattoir.”I don't know what I can do if they don't give it to me; this business is my life,” Kozmaoğlu said as he watched a news bulletin on Greek television.He's one of about 2,000 ethnic Greeks, called Rum in Turkey, remaining in Istanbul. Most Greeks left the city after mobs attacked their homes and workplaces in 1955. Others were expelled in 1964 after fighting between Greeks and Turks on Cyprus.Before the 2004 crackdown, Kozmaoğlu was one of four pork butchers in Istanbul. All of his competitors quit handling pigs after losing their slaughterhouse permits. The state granted Kozmaoğlu temporary licenses to let him kill the swine on outlawed farms, but those have now been cut off, he said.In 2004, the Agriculture Ministry assumed the power to issue livestock handling permits previously controlled by local authorities. The ministry has refused applications for pig facilities, citing a failure to meet sanitary or other standards.A ministry spokeswoman declined to answer questions about pig farms and slaughterhouses.

Forbidden meat:

Islam forbids its followers from eating pork, calling it unhygienic.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has denied claims by secular leaders that he has an Islamic agenda, as set out in an indictment by a top prosecutor last month. The case demands the closure of Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) for anti-secular activities, focusing on a move to ease the ban on Islamic headscarves at universities.The pork crackdown began in 2004 after 40 people contracted food poisoning at a restaurant in İzmir on the Aegean coast, said Zafer Üstündağ, one of two remaining pig farmers in Turkey. Raw pork was found mixed with the raw beef and cracked wheat used to make the Turkish dish “çiğ köfte.”

‘Overzealous officials'

The ministry used the food-poisoning scare as an excuse to shut down the pork industry, said Tahsin Yeşildere, former head of the Turkish Veterinary Medical Association's Istanbul branch.

“The Islamic mentality within the government finished off the business after the public outcry following the incident in İzmir,” he said. “The prime minister probably doesn't even know about it, but that's what happens when you have overzealous officials.”Erdoğan's press spokesman, Akif Beki, didn't respond to phone calls seeking comment.Üstündağ, 43, keeps about 200 pigs at his farm in Kırklareli, near the Bulgarian border, and owns a nearby convenience store. At first, he was optimistic about the government's measures.“We thought they would provide us with a properly regulated work environment,'' Üstündağ said. “But it turned out to be a plan to suffocate us.”The pig farmers soon faced a Catch-22, Üstündağ said. While a new rule required farmers to provide the address where their animals would be slaughtered, there were no abattoirs left.”How can we provide that when they've revoked all the slaughterhouse licenses?” says the goatee-wearing Üstündag, sitting in his half-empty food and alcohol store.

Fading dream:

Üstündağ's farm is 10 kilometers outside Kırklareli city center. He began farming in January 2004 on land inherited from his father, just before the government clampdown began.The Agriculture Ministry seized 90 adult pigs from Üstündağ and sold them to Kozmaoğlu, then banned him from selling his remaining pigs, he said.As debts mount, Üstündağ is having trouble caring for his livestock. Striding across a field fenced by scraps of metal and plastic tied together, Üstündağ points to a piglet suckling its mother. The rest of the litter died the night they were born because the sow didn't have a properly heated barn, he said.Back in Istanbul, Kozmaoğlu said sales have fallen to less than a 10th of the 50,000 liras ($39,000) a month he brought in four years ago. He employs just three workers.The shop, next to a gas station in the Dolapdere neighborhood, doesn't have a sign out front because Kozmaoğlu doesn't want to attract attention from ultra-nationalists.

Gammon or backgammon:

His main customers are restaurants and well-paid businessmen from various ethnic groups. Kozmaoğlu lamented that there are fewer Greek Christian customers than there once were because the younger generation doesn't want to pay for high-quality food.Less demand for gammon means more time for backgammon. Kozmaoğlu smiled across the table at his friend, a pious Muslim man who lives nearby and visits the shop for their regular games.

“This man takes all my troubles away for a few hours every afternoon,” Kozmaoğlu said. “This is the best part of my time in the shop.”

Survey shows Turks believe courts unjust

A recent survey by Istanbul Bilgi University’s Human Rights Law Research Center revealed that Turks do not believe Turkish courts’ decisions to be just. The survey also showed that women, lower income groups and people with less education tend to have more confidence in the courts than others

ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News

A recent survey showed 60 percent of Turks believe the decisions of Turkish courts are unjust.

Although there are some questions as to the reasons behind this, the results come as bad news for the institution, the first and foremost aim of which is to ensure justice.

The results, the product of a two-year project conducted by Istanbul's Bilgi University, in collaboration with the Open Society Institute in Turkey, were announced in a meeting Friday.

�Adalet Gözet� (Watch for Justice) studied how ordinary citizens view the Turkish judicial system, what their experiences are, and how their experiences are shaped.

�The principle we try to emphasize here is a principle of human rights,� Professor Turgut Tarhanlı of Bilgi University's Law Department said while opening the meeting. �It is not enough to install justice, the fact that justice is ensured should be made visible also,� he said, and added that this was the question the survey was based upon.

The project's coordinator, Seda Kalem of the Human Rights Law Research Center at Bilgi University, explained they had used three different methods during the project: On-site observation in courts to see what an ordinary citizen encounters, research in media archives to study how the media handles news pertaining to law and a survey conducted on 3,000 people in urban areas to determine citizens' experiences with the judicial system, the workings of courts, etc.

Galma Jahic of the Human Rights Law Research Center at Bilgi University explained that in the survey they had put five points in the spotlight: The rate of citizens with court experience, one way or the other; citizens' satisfaction and confidence; general approach toward courts, employment of a lawyer; and information about the system.

Only 29.5 percent of those surveyed had experience in a court, either as defendant, plaintiff, accused, victim, witness or spectator. �The treatment people receive is part of their experiences,� said Jahic. The survey showed that victims in a penal case are those with the least satisfaction. �This is in line with our expectations, as penal cases are based on the accused,� said Jahic.

One of the results of the survey is that it shows Turks do not really trust their judicial system. The researchers asked their subjects to rate their trust in the courts on a scale of one to five, with four being �have confidence� and five being �have complete confidence.� The total of fours and fives revealed only 47.7 percent, staying below the halfway mark. Yet a more striking point was that women and lower-income groups, both of which are many times considered as �disadvantaged� groups, have a higher level of confidence in the judicial system than men and higher-income groups.

Researchers wanted to compare confidence in the judicial system to confidence in other institutions in Turkey. The survey revealed that the media is the least trusted institution among Turks while the Turkish Armed Forces, followed by the Constitutional Court, was the most trusted. �All of them, except for the Turkish Armed Forces and the Constitutional Court, stayed below the 50 percent mark,� said Jahic.

The lack of confidence in the media as an institution comes as a surprise when one considers the fact that the survey also revealed that most Turks turn to the media to receive information about on-going court cases that are on the country's agenda. �Very clearly the media is a source of information in terms of how the justice system works in Turkey,� said Jahic.

Turks are most critical of the fact that it takes too long for cases to be concluded and 46.2 percent said they would like to avoid taking conflicts to court, while only 40.2 percent believe courts protect everyone equally.

One of the most striking results of the survey was that only 40 percent of the people surveyed believe the courts' decisions are just. This revealed that more than half � 60 percent � of Turks find the Turkish judicial system to be unjust.