Istanbul goes green: politics, scrap dealing, urban gardens (13 images)
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ialeonTake a look at Istanbul and you will see Turkey’s economic development at its fullest. This transforming city of the east breathes in the rhythm of cranes and large-scale construction. Environmentalism, an issue often ignored in times of economic booms, is nevertheless a visible force amidst this development craze. Istanbulites proudly bring up questions on environmental sustainability, an issue intertwined with both politics and activism, finds French photographer Nicolas Datiche
This gallery is part of the fifth edition of cafebabel.com’s flagship project of 2012, the sequel to ‘Orient Express Reporter’, sending Balkan journalists to EU cities and vice versa for a mutual pendulum of insight
In the Beyoglu neighbourhood, a giant billboard boasts 100% local and natural agriculture (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com)
One of the many scrap dealers in Istanbul looks for items to put in his cart, which indirectly makes the city a leader in recycling, according to various NGOs (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com)
Yesiller partisi ('green party') headquarters in the neighbourhood of Beyoglu. Turkey's ecology party has a nationwide membership of 400 and has not yet put forward an elected representative (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com)
Serkan Köybasi, 32, is a Yesiller partisi member. A Bahcesehir university student, he is working on a thesis on Turkish real-estate construction and would like to follow it up with a thesis on environmentalism in Turkey. He wants to get hands-on experience with the green party and carry out political actions for environmental resistance (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com)
Durukan Dudu, 27, is a green activist and Yesiller member from Istanbul. He's against the construction of a nuclear centre in Turkey and a third bridge being built over the Bosphorus. He refuses to use anything other than a bicycle to get around the city of almost 13 million (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com)
On Istiklal, the main avenue in Istanbul's city centre, a greenpeace activist engages a young Turk in conversation about the construction of a nuclear centre (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com
For six years now, the Bugday NGO has hosted an organic products market in the neighbourhood of Sisli (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com)
The Bugday market takes place every Saturday. For six years it has been counting on more and more farmers and producers (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com)
A young farmer farmer from northern Turkey proudly wears a Bugday apron, on which the NGO has printed its causes and goals. One of the group's causes is supporting agricultural companies who wish to harvest products that are in danger of disappearing (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com)
Sevgi Mutlu, 32, and Gülizar Yenal, 60, both members of Yeryuzu Dernegi, take a break in the garden. Their organisation aims to encourage the spread of urban gardens by offering classes on permaculture and transforming small, unused places into gardens (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com)
Yeryuzu Dernegi garden is also a collective system of growing and exchanging grains; everybody can grow his or her favorite plant on their private balcony, or publicly in the city garden (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com)
The city garden Kuzguncuk (in the Asian part of Istanbul) allows everybody to have access to healthy and organic products (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com)
This garden's main purpose is to promote healthy eating. It is also a place for activism and resistance of urban development. Each resident of the neighbourhood owns a parcel of this garden, openly opposing the real-estate project that seeks to build on this plot of land (Image: © Nicolas Datiche for 'Orient Express Reporter II' in Istanbul for cafebabel.com)
This gallery is part of the fifth edition of cafebabel.com’s flagship project of 2012, the sequel to ‘Orient Express Reporter’, sending Balkan journalists to EU cities and vice versa for a mutual pendulum of insight
Translated from Écologie à Istanbul : la mise au vert