The gentrification offensive: repression and resistance in Istanbul (PHOTOS)
Banner Icon Resistanbul "Tarlabaşı is a place to hide." Soon, there won't be any place to hide…
Gentrification in Turkey has taken on an interesting and almost unique dimension. Not only is the AKP attempting (largely successfully) to inscribe it’s myopic neo-liberal vision on society in the form of re-development or urban renewal, it is imposing architecturally a top-down restructuring of the social sphere, attempting to cleanse from Istanbul and other sites of power those who’s socio-economic composition defies the hegemonic culture as designed by the state. The hybridity of the AKPs melding of both Islamic and capitalist values makes for a particularly aggressive version of gentrification which not only aims at homogenization of culture but also, at stratification of class through processes of gentrification and class-cleansing, enclosure of public space and the dystopian proliferation of gated-communities.
More:The gentrification offensive: repression and resistance in Istanbul (PHOTOS) - Your Middle East