The other side of Istanbul

COC Leiden was on Turkish grounds on Friday 6 February. Some sixty visitors –exchange students, expats as well as representatives of the local Turkish/Dutch organisation HTIB – got together under the motto ‘Blowing a Different Waterpipe’ to watch a documentary about the lives of a number of young gays and transsexuals in Istanbul.

“The International Relations group of COC Leiden has been organising party nights since last year May on a regular basis for young people who are staying in Leiden for their studies or their work. But this was the first time that such a party night was combined with a thematic meeting”, according to Maarten Bergwerff, the co-ordinator of this international group. “One of our members knows Döndü Kılıç, the director of the documentary The Other Side of Istanbul, made last year. This is how we came up with the idea of showing the documentary and have Kılıç join us from Germany especially for this evening.”
     Kılıç’s documentary, an 83-minute journey to Istanbul, was impressive. East and West have been joined for centuries in Istanbul but the climate for homosexuality is not as progressive as some stories from the oriental dream city lead one to believe. Just like the rest of Turkey, Istanbul is always torn into two. Famous artists can be openly homosexual without any problems. Families who accept their sons of the ‘other side’ are definitely no exception. Homosexuality is not forbidden according to the Turkish law.
     Yet this is only one side of the story. There are no laws that protect homosexuals. Islam, just like Judaism and Christianity, does not accept homosexuality. Homosexuals are often scolded and physically attacked in the streets and the police rather go along with these acts than protect the victims. The documentary displays the touching stories of Mustafa, Mehmet, Apo and the transsexual Güney where it is clear for the viewers that they are not having an easy life.
     The documentary was followed by a discussion with contributions of Kılıç as well as Pieter Boone from COC Netherlands, the co-ordinator of a project supporting gay-rights organisations LambdaIstanbul and Kaos GL in Turkey. He explained that if Turkish people started thinking differently about homosexuality, this would have a positive effect on the Turkish population in the Netherlands.
     Despite the serious tone of the discussion, the ‘Turkish’-oriented party continued into the late hours at COC Leiden.

Photo: Mariëtte van Beek/De V van Ver