We're on a bit of a global kick at Intersections lately, so bear with this excursion to the shadowy corners of one of our newly minted "global cities," Istanbul. NPR's Ivan Watson takes us to Tarlabasi, a teeming district of Istanbul that is basically one of humanity's many urban badlands, a place that attracts the Turkish capital's outsiders and miscreants, its dope dealers and transsexual hookers, its gypsies and illegal immigrants from Africa. Not surprisingly, the area is not mentioned in The New York Times' recent "36 Hours in Istanbul" feature.
The NPR piece is worth a listen, and the audio slideshow is excellent. Link. And also, this attachment feature on Tarlabasi at De-Regulation. Read more on the cultural scene of the greater region, always at Bidoun.
* Also new at NPR, Afghanistan's last Jew. Tarlabasi street image from FotoTrek.
