Istanbul’s al fresco diners lose their chairs

Outdoor tables and chairs go from many cafes in Beyoğlu tourist area after official crackdown

Constanze Letsch in Istanbul

guardian.co.uk

Istanbul restaurant balcony

Bar and restaurant owners forced to remove tables and chairs can replace them with a ’70cm balcony’, the municipality says. So far the costly compromise has not proved popular. Photograph: www.radikal.com

It is the tourism heart of Istanbul, a cosmopolitan district packed with bars, clubs, cafes and restaurants which has always been a magnet for the al fresco diner. But outdoor tables are becoming harder to find in Beyoğlu, since the authorities inexplicably ordered many of them to be removed.

Local eateries say they are losing money and Turkish media report that the measure, brought in at the end of July, has resulted in 2,000 staff losing their jobs.

It is not hard to see why. In the usually bustling district, a sign outside a bar advertises cheap tequila shots and beer, but the tables inside are empty.

Mehmet Papatya, who has been working there for seven years and lives above the bar, said: “We pay 6,000 Turkish lira [£2,110] every month for the space alone, we need to have tables outside.”

Four tables have been taken away by the municipal police – without prior warning, according to Papatya. “Nobody here pays rent at the moment. Our landlord will either grant us a rent reduction, or we will have to close shop.”

According to the Beyoğlu municipality, there were 1,066 complaints from people not being able to pass between restaurants, and 868 formal complaints about rubbish left out on the street. Rumour has it that the “table operations” were initiated by the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose motorcade got stuck because of urban furniture before Ramadan.

One possible solution offered by the municipality is the “70cm balcony” that can be added outside – so far only one restaurant has put the idea into practice, at a price of 20,000 lira. According to Turkish media, the official guidelines are vague: the balcony should be “chic” and not cheap-looking, but business owners could decide themselves about the final design. Most restaurant and bar owners, however, reject this costly plan.

Mehmet Aktaş, who works in a restaurant, said: “We used to have 18 tables with room for 40 to 50 people. Now we have three tables left. Five out of eight employees are on unpaid leave.”

Like many restaurants in Beyoğlu they have seen their revenues fall by almost 80%.

Aktaş said the municipality’s policy would affect a broader local economy: “We buy from fishermen, butchers and greengrocers.”

Erol, a publisher who enjoys a beer sitting on a windowsill at Kahve Pi, has been working in Beyoğlu for eight years. “About 15 years ago it must have been a little like this here, very quiet. And to be honest, the silence is quite nice. Of course from the point of view of business owners, this silence is not a good thing.”

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