Narratives in City Landscapes

Cultural Identity in Istanbul

Bibliographic Data

ID7464453
AuthorsAmy Mills (corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume95
Issue3
Pages441-462
Publication date2005-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographical Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-7428 • E-ISSN: 1931-0846
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1931-0846.2005.tb00375.x
OpenAlexW1995617304
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited34

Since the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, when the Turkish nation was defined as ethnically Turkish and Muslim, the issue of ethnic minorities has been at the root of a deep insecurity concerning cultural identity and what it means to be Turkish. The movement to “recover” ethnic minority in history and in place is most visible in Istanbul, the city identified as the location of European culture in Turkey and Turkey's most culturally pluralistic city. The movement has gained pace since the formal acceptance of Turkey as a candidate for membership in the European Union and the push for reforms in human rights. It is promoted by a very small cultural and economic elite and works together with gentrification to produce elite spaces in the city, as exemplified by two neighborhoods: Kuzguncuk, a historic minority neighborhood on the Asian shore of the Bosporus; and “French Street,” a new commercial development in Beyoǧlu, on the European side of the city west of the Bosporus. These landscapes articulate a European, cosmopolitan, and multicultural place identity for Istanbul and reflect a particular notion of Turkey as modern and European, providing insight into the contemporary debate in Turkey concerning the tensions embedded at the core of Turkish cultural identity

Aesthetics · Cultural identity · Economic growth · Elite · Ethnic group · European union · Gentrification · Geography · Identity (music · Multiculturalism · Negotiation · Political science · Sociology · Turkish · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Gender Studies · Law · Turkey's Politics and Society

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