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.

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Salloura, an Epic of Sweets: Chap. 1, Out of Syria

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IstanbulTucked away in an alley in Istanbul’s Aksaray neighborhood, Şirket Alahdab is a small grocery store overflowing with Syrian staples: pickled baby eggplants, dried leafy greens, cans of clotted cream for desserts. When we enter the store, Istanbul temporarily fades away and Damascus or Aleppo take its place. “All real,” the clerk declares proudly, as…

April 28, 2017

Saruja: Return to Mom's Kitchen

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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…

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Vezir Han: Rebuilding Aleppo in Istanbul

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IstanbulKhan al-Wazir is a remnant of Aleppo’s Ottoman past: In the late 17th century, the Ottoman governor of Aleppo commissioned the construction of this large caravanserai (in fact, its name means “caravanserai of the minister”), a building that housed both merchants and travelers. In 21st-century Istanbul, the former capital of the Ottoman Empire, a new Khan…