Sacred and Secular Istanbul

Crossroads of western and Islamic worlds, Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, stands with 12.8 million people as reflection of both. In a country that is 98 percent Muslim, it is in this country’s cultural, economic and financial center, that differences in belief and lifestyle – modern and traditional – are brought most poignantly to light.

Chic bars, sidewalk cafes and high-fashion boutiques dot Nisantasi, Istanbul’s most westernized sector. At the opposite end of the city’s demographic spectrum stand the ultra-conservative neighborhoods surrounding Fatih Mosque. Here headscarves replace Valentino designs for women, traditional attire and beards supplant business suits for men. The difference in mindsets is marked.

Asked whether he sees a trend in his city’s direction as far as religious expression is concerned, an established restaurateur in the historic district of Sultanahmet responded in the affirmative.

“The most visible indicator is the increased number of headscarves, particularly among younger women,” he said. “Fashion could be part of it, but my sense as a Muslim is that it runs deeper than that,” he said. “On some level it’s worrying.”

A candidate for full European Union membership in the next decade or so, Turkey remains controversial for many present EU member countries too. A secular republic since its founding by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923, the current government has its own critics. Voices both subtle and not have accused it on occasion of being “overly Islamic.” Suffice it to say that the blend of religion and non-religion in a country so lifestyle-different isn’t easy. And when brought to focus in a metropolitan center so large and dynamic as that of Istanbul, the mix in many ways, isn’t an easy mix at all.

David Bathgate teaches “Photojournalism – Telling the Story with a Camera,” online and interactively at The Compelling Image.