Over the last few years, as a growing number of Syrians fleeing the violence in their homeland have made their way to Istanbul, the Aksaray district has swiftly turned into the city’s “Little Syria,” filled with shops and restaurants catering to this new Syrian diaspora. CB photographer Ipek Baltutan recently spent a day walking around the area, capturing some of the flavor of this newly formed enclave.

Published on March 13, 2015

Related stories

January 30, 2020

Yalla Falafel: Green Revolution

Istanbul | By Dima Al Sayed

By Dima Al Sayed

IstanbulA commuter hub right on the Bosphorus, Beşiktaş courses with energy. In addition to the masses streaming on and off the ferries and the cars inching up and down the steep thoroughfare of Barbaros Boulevard, the neighborhood is overrun with students – Bahçeşehir University sits a few steps from the main ferry terminal. Of the…

January 15, 2020

Saruja: Return to Mom’s Kitchen

Istanbul | By Dalia Mortada

By Dalia Mortada

IstanbulPerhaps nowhere else is it clearer that as many as one million Syrians have settled down in Istanbul than in the city’s historic Fatih district. The neighborhood is home to the city’s immigration headquarters (Fatih Emniyet), and the backstreets leading up to it are among the most transformed, since Syrians and other new arrivals end…

October 18, 2019

“Meet Me in Yusufpaşa”: Breaking Bread with Istanbul’s Migrant Communities

Istanbul | By Tara Milutis

By Tara Milutis

IstanbulEditor’s note: Tara Milutis, an American filmmaker based in Istanbul, shares the inspiration behind her new short film “Meet Me in Yusufpaşa,” which tells the story of Istanbul’s Yusufpaşa neighborhood, where food knits communities together and expresses the experience of migration and assimilation. When I first visited Istanbul in the spring of 2016, I was…