as the desert runs into the sea

When you’re left dehydrated for four days in a desert, you begin to lose sense of direction, walk in circles and eventually starve yourself to your inevitable end. US border officials know this too well and are often left collecting corpses beyond recognition of those who desperately try to make it across the ruthless Sonoran Desert. That, or they encounter them during their journeys and take them away, but not all those journey-makers prefer this latter outcome. Exploited by traffickers on the Mexican side of the border, if they can manage to complete their perilous walks, they hope to find a safe haven, and sometimes find themselves knocking on strangers’ doors, only to hope that they’d extend a helping hand rather than turning them to the authorities.

As fatal as they are, deserts can be incredibly inviting geographies; with no end in sight, an infinite depth of field and an offer of wilderness that us humans have long let go of our lives, which immediately draws one’s gaze. Borders on the other hand, especially those with walls, fences or any other invisible apparatus of control are usually repulsive. In the case of Joshua Bonnetta and J.P. Sniadecki’s “El Mar La Mar”, these attributes are reversed; or rather merged: the Mexican-US border at once draws the pair in to tread a careful and sensitive excursion around it. They were taken by both the landscape and the hard border on a trip from New Orleans to San Francisco and started to storyline what is truly an intense documentary of survival and expulsion.

Shot on a Super 16, the film is a visual feast of landscape imagery, combined with some incredible and innovative sound design. As the southern Arizonian images of nature, wildlife and cowboys blend into whitened- and blackened-out images, uninterrupted testimonial interviews with border officials and journey-makers alike are mixed with field recordings, sometimes in their raw format but most times manipulated with additions of reverb or stretching out of frequencies. Hardly any of this comes as misplaced as they create an environment that is both very impressionistic but also abstracted to such extent that Mexicans' heart-wrenching stories create the incredible tension that the film rests on.

The film is split into three sections titled: “Rio”, “Costas” and “Tormenta”. I had my own interpretations but also went to ask the directors why they did not translate those titles, to which they replied they wanted the audience to keep engaging with the film by researching them if necessary and that they had only finished editing 5 days prior to the screening! But as a contextual point, the film's opening title "Rio" begins with a flickery image recorded from a moving vehicle, which, as the camera zooms out, slowly morphs into a recognisable image of a metal fence. It is one of the most dynamic scenes of the entire film, as the rest is very much made of a static (and stunning) visual language. But, despite that slow pace, the film is anything but stasis. The directors did an incredible job of marrying their audio-visual interpretations with people's testimonials and allowed for these to speak for themselves, and safely stayed away from taking a stance.

The shortest description I could make for the film would be “excruciatingly beautiful”. As I arrived in Berlin on Sunday late afternoon, I was still filled with certain inspirations I had acquired over the weekend. Ending up at strangers’ house late on Friday night, finding myself playing percussion in an impromptu house jam session, and meeting the same incredible people who had put out an exhibition at St Pancras Parish Church’s Crypt Gallery the next evening had already filled me with much anticipation, as if the prospects of going to Berlin, one of the most special places in my life, was not enough.

Titled “CAPUT”, that exhibition that displayed works from artists from France, Greece, Italy, Senegal, Turkey, the UK and the US not only responded to its own setting so intelligently, but also portrayed the interplay between life and death, the dynamic and the static. Everything I saw at El Mar La Mar seemed to have this incredible point of reference to works I saw and experienced at the exhibition. Can’s video installation complimented by sound recordings from the materials he used was as genuine as Bonnetta and Sniadecki’s mix of the harsh audio-landscapes, metallic surfaces and the soft human touch of border-gazers. Beyza’s poetry and grainy video footage were almost a response to the filmmakers’ own use of artistic language, through blur and abstraction. Having experienced a monochromatic part of her video, I could not help myself but remember how El Mar La Mar’s brutal black or white backdropped scenes of testimonials merged into the landscape photography. And Merve’s three paintings, with a varying tones of red, green and beige from vivid to pastel had defined my interpretation of the exhibition: although she refers to themes of harvest and blossom, their spatial features and subtle lines gave me an immediate feeling of rugged but tested landscapes and borders. Her painterly abstraction did not give me a feeling of exclusion; on the contrary a sense of invitation and intrigue.

So, it was almost hardly a coincidence when the Berlinale presenter on stage addressed her first question to the filmmakers about the painful beauty of the film and how its poetry-like structure almost made Sonoran Desert an appealing place. My second question was about the two men who walked for 8 days and ended up at knocking at the ranch the filmmakers were staying at. They connected them with humanitarian focussed organisations, while receiving their testimony of the journey. The men were very tired, sleep and water deprived over the final few days of their walk and had almost acquired a totally indifferent feeling to the emotions they were suffering from, except, when they talked about a fellow female traveler who died as they had to leave her behind, one of them started sobbing. I wanted to know how the directors approached these men about a story so traumatic and had just taken place: apparently, the men wanted to put their story out and the filmmakers were, by this point, experienced enough to create the optimal distance that allowed them to investigate deeply with true interest but remain emotionally stable as not to take a subjective stance. That's why this film was so powerful. So human, despite very few humans seen in footage.

Writing this text took me longer than I anticipated. In between the 11 films I saw, friends I met, very different environments I have been in (both physically and spiritually), my initial feelings towards El Mar La Mar stayed the same. If anything, they have been supplemented by various inspirations through the week, culminating with an unexpected approach on the dancefloor at the end of a long clubbing night (and morning) with the statement “can I dance next to you; you look so happy and make others happy” — something you don’t expect to hear much in Berlin, the ultimate individualist capital of hedonism.

But, that was also reminder of how much we seem to strive for these interactions and the need to really understand and communicate what we individually and collectively go through, whether this be with complete strangers or our neighbours. In fact, often is the case that the more we connect, the less rigid those definitional boundaries become. Like the first scene in El Mar La Mar where the fluid image turns into a hard fence, or the weekend in London that prepared me for my journey to Berlin… with gratitude to everyone who keeps inspiring, old and new alike.

2 July 2016 Remain March

Few images from today's march; and some thoughts on it:
I can't remember the exact number but it is probably already over double-digits, the number of marches and protests I have attended in London. This is one of those that I wanted to take part in, but found it a little difficult to associate myself completely, for a number of reasons.
First of all, it would have benefited everyone if this were held before the Referendum, not after. As in this case, as a protest march, not only were its effects very limited; had it been held before, it could have helped expose the bitter lies of the Leave campaign before voting took place. Whether that would attract attention and swing votes, we'll never be able to know.
The march started at Park Lane and ended at Parliament Square, a very familiar route for anyone who's attended one of these. Last year, following an unprecedented surge and devastating loss of lives at the seas of migrants hoping to flee hardships in their countries, we marched on 12 September 2015, in solidarity with them. Sadly, it had very little effect on government policy: Prime Minister Cameron had announced UK would help a mere 20,000 refugee seekers until 2020. The Home Secretary Theresa May is now hoping to replace David Cameron as the Tory leader and future PM.
Ironically, that march took place on the day Jeremy Corbyn was announced as the new leader of the Labour Party, trying to heal wounds caused by a slightly unexpected defeat at the general elections earlier in May. The newly elected leader, and a beacon of hope for the progressive sects of Labour supporters (and others), addressed that rally
I felt similar vibes along the march today: there was definitely more of a 'feel good' atmosphere than one would expect. It was more of a celebration of London's multiculturalism and diversity, as a reminder of its richness that, as the argument has long taken hold, is under threat with Brexit. As BBC has put it, "... [t]here is barely an organiser in sight and what police presence there is is very low-key - but this outpouring of feeling is also quintessentially British: Calm, polite and orderly."
I find this optimistic attempt naive and problematic. It is detracting from the root of the problem and runs the risk of creating a false sense of solidarity at a time of great uncertainty. There are battles to be fought, and it requires energy, long-term strategy and resilience.
More problematic is the view that many Leave voters will take, with this march: at worst they will see it as divisive, both in terms of its narrative and its geography; they will certainly feel as if their vote is being dishonoured; and at best, as a naive attempt with no result whatsoever.
The march and some of the slogans / banners, along with the debate in the past week or so expose some great democratic deficiencies in the United Kingdom: many now wish the Parliament to resolve the Brexit issue over a vote. My initial reaction to this is simple and straightforward: it was the Parliament who voted to take Britain to war in Iraq.
That those who are not happy with a public opinion in the form of a Referendum would wish to use liberty to change the rules of the game can be damaging in the long run, as it creates institutional discrepancies. I will not go into another debate on the extremely significant methodological deficiencies of a Referendum and its validity here, as I have done that earlier.
But, it helps to remember some of multiple issues with the system we have here: from lack of proportional representation, which was challenged and quashed by a vote on Alternative Vote Referendum in 2011, to the deeply entrenched and male-dominated power politics within the mainstream Labour and Conservative Parties in Westminster. What we have been witnessing at the Parliamentary Party level debates in both since the Referendum results is testimony to that.
What this march, both at a personal and a general level, helped uncover, once more: how people organise through social media to gather in thousands within a week and demand their right to protest and receive the necessary support to use the city infrastructure to hold it.
This, viewed in light of how such demands are handled in Turkey, despite spending almost a decade here, still amuses and inspires me. In Turkey, such events often end with tear gas and water cannons... and speaking of water cannons, by the way.
The march once more exposed the toxic, disgusting lies the Leave campaign threw at the British public, and as much as it inspires me to continue helping this exposure, it further breaks my heart to see how a large part of the Leave voters believed in them, wholeheartedly. At a personal level, I have been trying to expose these and will try to continue doing so.
Finally, as I was gathering my thoughts on today and in general, lying down on the grass in Hyde Park, I was overhearing dozens of conversations around me, in almost as many languages. A moment of thought of London losing this very character that makes it so special weighed heavily on me.

Temple of Hope

Tempelhofer Feld was operating as an airfield as early as in 1909, however, its designation as Berlin’s main airport and its expansion began in the 1920s, which took on a whole new meaning following the establishment of the Third Reich, as Nazis decided to turn it into a ‘large airport’, dovetailing their ‘great’ idea of Germania. Situated in the south of central Berlin, in the district (Bezirk) of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, it was famously used by the Allied Powers for an airlift in 1948-1949 to come to the aid of residents of West Berlin whose access to crucial supplies were blocked by the East German authorities. Through those 11 months, the residents of West Berlin’s only hope of survival was goods received from the air, and Tempelhof provided the necessary base.

Long gone are the days of divided Berlin and the site, referred to in official Berlin maps as the ‘ehemalige Flughafen Tempelhof (the former Tempelhof Airport) was turned into a massive public space, a green refuge in a city that does not otherwise lack green space all that much anyway. It has remained popular with locals who use the site for various activities ranging from barbecuing, flying kites, or playing mini golf. It was my local running spot when I lived in Neukölln in the Spring of 2013. 

The ‘Tempelhof Question’, the challenge to come to a collective decision on what to do with a site of such significance in scale in a very central location in Berlin, a city whose 1990s oversupply of housing in the hopes of making the capital great once more, is acutely falling short of providing shelter for its diverse and ever growing population has caused much controversy in the recent past. The Tempelhofer Feld visitors enjoy 386-hectare of open space (1.5 times the size of Monaco) and the park is home to urban gardening beds, sitting adjacent to a major mosque and public pool. A public referendum in May 2014 turned in favour of those trying to protect the site from any future development by putting in restrictions for planning consent but the discussions were already at their peak shortly before I ended my 3-month long Berlin stint at the end of May 2013. Berliners decided to rid the city officials and their business developers of a very profitable deal.

And as soon as I moved back to London, the protests in Gezi Park erupted in Istanbul and I found myself reflecting on this very recent Tempelhof experience. Gezi protests had come at the tail-end of a streak of incidents where spaces frequented by the public with embedded memories were being streamlined to redevelopment programmes, stripping them of their former qualities: in most cases limiting public access and as in the case of Gezi Park, completely transforming the former functions of what is one of a handful of parks in central Istanbul. I was able to observe the developments around Gezi Park just as closely, in flesh and in spiritual solidarity, as I was for Tempelhof.

Today, a discussion barely registered in the public domain in 2013 is surrounding Tempelhofer Feld. The hangars of the former airport are now homes to around a 1,000 refugees who have fled from conflict zones, primarily from Syria. Last night, I attended an evening of performances by three teenagers who live in the makeshift, temporary housing allocated for the refugees. Titled ‘1.2 Square Meters’, the performances, theatrical insofar they were on a stage and the audience faced them, and otherwise very real, were a combination of spoken word, some singing and dancing, and a recitation of a scripted text reimagining the ages old pan-Arab dream in the embodiment of the Palestinian Uday, ultimately rejected by Abdulrahman and Moamen, the Syrian kids whose survival reflected a simple hope of survival in a foreign country.

The evening was organised by Alexander Schröder, an actor, director and a drama teacher at the Universitaet der Künste, Berlin, who revealed he sneaked into the refugee encampment to ‘seek out his neighbours with the honest and a great feeling of curiosity’ adding that it is this ‘curiosity that would help people integrate with one another’ as against a top-down dicta of what integration means and how it should be achieved.

For the past two months, I have been volunteering as a performer to the ‘immersive theatre’ experience called You Me Bum Bum Train, a show in which I took part as audience in 2011. An audience member goes through ‘scenes’ that reflect real-life situations and put the audience member on the spot, to react to the environment surrounding them — one of the scenes mimcking the the painful and often disastrous journey many migrants resort to between Calais and Dover, in the hopes of a better life.

The testimonials from audience members who go through the experience all reflect one thing: they could not have imagined being put through such stress in real life. They immediately sympathise with the plight of people who seek refuge in a foreign and largely a hostile environment. I was proud to take part in a minute role in this mega-production, whose producers are now dismantling the set and the props and will donate tonnes of spare materials to people across campsites in Calais.

After the end of the 1.2 M2 performance, we took a quick break and re-emerged at the performance room of the DTK Wasserturm. A 130-year old building that served as a source of life for Berliners in this part of Kreuzberg nowadays houses a youth and culture centre and were generous enough to allocate the Theatergruppe Tempelhof space to practice and perform. We heard Alexander’s introductory speech and had a chance to ask questions to the kids. The excitement with which they put their performance together and the childish mockery they make of each other and the world was clearly observed. They were enjoying themselves and said they all wanted to ‘continue doing more theatre’. The challenges are profound: they are struggling to be ‘formalised’ through paperwork which is causing them all sorts of logistical problems. They are being shuffled across different areas of the camp with each attempt to best manage the limited shelter resources; some of the kids now have access to schooling (though they, like all kids, do like to skip classes), and there are curfews in place to make sure they get back to their shelters before too late. While intra-community issues seem to be at minimum from what we’ve heard, separation of boys’ and girls’ lives also mean they cannot often come together to play, and train. 

While the audience, probably all very curious about the journeys these kids have had to go through, tried to keep the focus of the questions on the performances, one audience member couldn’t help but ask what the kids ‘felt towards the people who smuggled them on boats from Turkey to Greece’, which, by that point, as we learned, was the way most of them made their way here. The interpreter who has a shared destiny with the boys mainly shrugged her shoulders but the kids were not shy about revealing the hard truth that is clear to all of us: they were harassed, exploited and exhausted. They all shared one sentiment, too: they missed their mothers. They were sent by their families, probably in order to resist being taken up by Daesh or suffer from conflict, but also to seek hope for the rest of their lives, just about starting in earnest.

It was a humbling evening to finish off a week-long trip to Berlin that started with a stag weekend and included frequent visits to meet old friends, make some new, and places that bring back tremendous shared and personal memories in a city that I have always had very special connections to. At the nearby ‘Kneipe’ we deliberated questions raised by the audience and tried to understand a little more about these kids’ worlds, helped by Malte who has been working with them for the past three months. Exposing kids to such traumas and confronting them with questions might have come across more disturbing to us than it was for the kids actually. Their focus seemed to be getting on with the rest of their lives — however, as they had claimed in some of their spoken words, they have so far not found the ‘heavenly spoils’ they were expecting from Germany. But then as Aisha put it bluntly, they haven’t really seen much of the world except for Tempelhof, though Alexander is now trying to take them on tours across the city. With open eyes and minds, they’ll hopefully be cherishing each and every moment.

Tempelhof, a temple of hope, is also deliberating its own future, once again. Only three years after securing public backing in restricting development on the parkland, a new question looms large: should the restriction be lifted so that permanent structures can be built to accommodate the ever increasing number of incoming migrants? Or would this open the floodgates to nullify a legacy of collective decision-making and legal ownership of public commons, i.e. a new era of laissez-faire for future developments across Berlin’s held dear public land and properties? Opinions are divided and politicians use them to their will: ‘hippies who want to protect Tempelhof won’t help migrants’ is a potentially cynical incursion, and a tough one to stand up to. Perhaps, the new neighbours will start weighing in on the issue — after all this area has borne hopes of survival for many, across generations, and it will continue to do so.

Lest the Ground Forgets

Commissioned by and published on the ArteEast Magazine's ArteEast Quarterly Spring 2015 issue. With gratitude to Ipek Ulusoy Akgul and Raja'a Khalid. The original piece can be read here.

When the Prince of Wales made an intervention to ask the authorities in the UAE, it was about saving a cultural and historical asset that was of national significance to the Emirati on a land that belonged to them[i]. Twenty-one years later a similar request was made by the Prince, to the Qatari wealth-owners on a land they owned for a major development scheme. This time, though, that piece of land happened to be in the heart of London, which is today itself trying to cope with a similar urban challenge of its own: defining a patchwork of a city with its ever-expanding catalogue of high-rise towers and ultra-modern developments – many of which are now financed by investments from the same region that it has, in the past, acted as a protectorate to.

The relationships between the British and those in the wider geography of the Gulf are deep and long-lived. As Britain increased its influence in the Middle East from the 19th century onwards, it has forged a 150-year old history in the Omani Gulf – their ever-increasing paternalistic assumption of a protectorate role reached a peak with the discovery of oil in Abu Dhabi in the late 1950s. This model of indirect control through ‘local collaborators’ can be said to exist today, in even more complex form where some of the roles are now reversed. That the UAE is now proudly showcasing a collection of recent landmarks, finds no barrier to warrant a title reflective of a very popular contemporary theme on urban landscapes: memory andidentity[ii].

As the same British engineers who worked for the development of the Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait surveyed the Dubai creek for dredging and widening to expand the infrastructure to serve a larger metropolis, loans were granted by the Kuwaiti and Qatari ruling families through the intermediary of the British Bank of the Middle East (formerly British Imperial Bank of Iran). The British Bank of the Middle East then provided services beyond that of a commercial bank and helped cement the emergence of modern Dubai. The flexible master-plan prepared by British architect/planner John Harris provided the framework for future development, as Dubai set up its own national bank in the late 1960s. Dubai’s own oil exports began in 1969 and led to the rapid expansion of the city from its initial layout, which consisted of three neighborhoods, Deira, Al Shindagah and Bur Dubai, around the Creek, a formation established long before the arrival of the British, owing to the city’s history of pearl diving and trade[iii].

When the rulers decided they no longer needed to keep some of the earlier settlements, al Bastakiya[iv] was amongst those slated for demolition in the 1980s, in order to open up space for a new skyscraper complex. In came the Prince of Wales, to pledge a convincing appeal to his hosts to keep al Bastakiya intact. At the time, Prince Charles was widely known for his favorable attitude to conservation and a severe dislike of the increasing “vertical, straight, unbending, only at right angles – and functional” architecture in London[v], a staunch position he maintains till today. Chief amongst his most recent victims has been architect Richard Rogers whose schemes for Paternoster Square and Royal Opera House projects were famously slashed by the Prince’s intervention[vi].

As seen with the case of al Bastakiya, Prince Charles’ ideas on architecture have always reached a zone of influence far beyond the boundaries of the British Isles, not just in geography but monetarily too. The latest row caused by the Prince has been over the Chelsea Barracks redevelopment in Westminster. When British newspapers reported in 2009, that the Prince had written to the Qatari Diar to pull back its support from Rogers’ scheme; the whole episode let to a lawsuit for damages of up to £81 million to property developers[vii].

Renderings from the Richard Rogers’ proposed. Withdrawn after a special request by Prince Charles to the Qatari Diar.
Credit: Chelsea Barracks, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

Squire & Partners’ approved scheme, on the way to realization.
Credit: http://www.primeresi.com

However, despite the Chelsea Barracks fiasco, it is surprising to see just how much of London’s architectural portfolio is affected by Gulf investment. The Shard, the tallest building in the European Union is the jewel in the crown of a wide London real-estate portfolio enjoyed by the same Qatari Diar, which includes, among others, the town’s infamous shopping center, some of its most expensive residential units, a portion of its stock exchange, the American Embassy, and a major investment, the East Village, around the site of the London 2012 Olympics[viii]. Funnily enough, the Shard was one particular architectural centerpiece for which the then Deputy Prime Minister issued a planning consent despite heavy opposition from heritage bodies.

Qatar’s neighbors just across the bay, too, have aggressively been investing to get valuable pieces of the city, and although they have recently failed to buy the signature financial district of Canary Wharf in London[ix], the Mayor of London goes to work every day on land developed by financial resources from Kuwait. In 2012, Saudi Arabia invested £60 billion into the UK, while Abu Dhabi’s royal family have become the largest landowners in Mayfair (after the Duke of Westminster) following their own continuous investments since 2006 now valued at of £5 billion[x],[xi]. Some of these projects are naturally faced with much inspection for example, a deal struck with the Bahraini Government in 2013 to help build a new community on a 500-hectare land in the south of the country received much scrutiny from the British public with respect to the latter’s way of dealing with democracy protests during the “Arab Spring”[xii].

Gulf countries are, of course, not alone in investing in one of the most liquid real-estate markets, as their share of investments is on par with those from the Chinese, and also the Norwegians through their government-backed pension fund, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds [xiii]. Owing partly to the less hospitable atmosphere in the United States following the 9/11 attacks, as well as the deep-rooted ties between the Gulf and the UK, the latter has found a source of bullion. It is with relish that the Mayor of London accentuates the city’s status as the unchallenged holder of the “unofficial title as the ‘eighth emirate’”[xiv].

Propelled by this resurgence in its upmarket real-estate, this “eighth emirate” has been forced to make a decision on what type of preservation it should turn its back on: the much-loved landscape or the early-20th century planning ideal that has come to protect much of what still makes Great Britain a mixed land of post-industry and greenery. “Growing up” or “growing out” have been the two alternatives, and the former has been the favored option with demand for high-rises increasing on an annual bases[xv].

Known largely for investing in the trendier areas of Mayfair where Gulf buyers are estimated to be making 10 per cent of all purchases, money has started to pour across the city with an eye to reap the highest benefits from its recovering housing market[xvi]. However, not all of this skywards growth is associated with creation of new human environments. The increasing number of “ghost blocks” has been an outspoken phenomenon[xvii] and with acute housing crisis becoming one of the key talking points for the upcoming general elections in May, there emerges a discrepancy between these new towers of steel and glass and the land upon which they sit.

While this special relationship between London and the Gulf continues to receive a helping hand from the Mayor with his occasional trips to the latter region, there seems to be very limited space left for the Prince who would much rather these skylines be built elsewhere: “It would be a tragedy if the character and skyline of our capital city were to be further ruined and St Paul’s dwarfed by yet another giant glass stump, better suited to downtown Chicago than the City of London”[xviii].

London’s newly found excitement[xix] in ushering foreign investment is counterweighed against its attempts of creating “new old neighborhoods” as part of a legacy plan that sits within a much larger framework of its urban desires[xx]. This sentiment repeats itself in the Gulf, which also grapples with contemporary and contrasting views on urbanism. As new developments in the Gulf continue to mimic Los Angeles or Las Vegas[xxi] more than the Londinium of the Romans, it is difficult to fully explain the rich legacy from which one should expect to draw a different diagram of what “Middle Eastern / Arab / Islamic urbanism” may be. If Richard Rogers is one of today’s most established architects in the UK, Sir Norman Foster’s name will be even more familiar to those in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates; his firm’s work includes the National Bank and the International Airport in the former and the Index Building in the latter. An ideologue by his own definitions, his vision for the future may have been a motivation for his selection by the people behind the Masdar City development in Abu Dhabi.

Masdar City, to which the Prince of Wales was once made a patron, is principled on the buzzword of current urban times: “sustainability”. It would be a major mistake to single out Masdar as an outlier in the long Middle Eastern tradition of sustainable architecture and urbanism. The project’s ambitions to create a zero-carbon city with its reduced need for energy and water borrows from a long tradition of effective architectural principles developed around these geographies. The city’s tight and dense grid is a direct response to the Islamic urban principle of narrow streets allowing penetration of light and circulation of air, many examples of which can be found not only in the winding streets of Andalucia in southern Spain but in the historic neighborhoods such as al Bastakiya in Dubai[xxii] — whose famous wind towers motivated the Prince’s calls for preservation, have been interpreted with a modern twist at one of the few buildings, namely the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, that have been realized in what otherwise has been an ill-fated project due to the 2008 financial squeeze[xxiii].

The question regarding the quality of the urban environments in which we live has, intrinsically, as much to do with the aesthetic principles with which they are built, as it has with what sort of human environments they create and who calls the shots (and how) on who will be experiencing these environments, if anyone at all. Just as the Harris master-plan provided a backbone to what was to follow, the opposite forces now leave significant marks on the capital of the once-protectorate. It may help to let go of foregone titles, in favor of a more consistent dialogue, both within and with one another.

[i] Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi, “Breathing Life into Bastakiya and the History of Dubai,” The World Post, Huffington Post, August 5, 2010. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sultan-sooud-alqassemi/breathing-life-into-basta_b_488900.html (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[ii] “Lest We Forget: Structures of Memory in the UAE,” National Pavilion UAE, Venice Architecture Biennale. http://nationalpavilionuae.org/architecture/2014-2/ (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[iii] Stephen J. Ramos, “The Blueprint: A History of Dubai’s Spatial Development Through Oil Discovery,” Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, June 2009.http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/Ramos_-_Working_Paper_-_FINAL.pdf (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[iv] Now renamed Al Fahidi Historic District.

[v] “A speech by HRH The Prince of Wales at the 150th anniversary of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Royal Gala Evening at Hampton Court Palace,” May 30, 1984.http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/media/speeches/speech-hrh-the-prince-of-wales-the-150th-anniversary-of-the-royal-institute-of (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[vi] Robert Booth, “Richard Rogers: ‘Prince Charles wrecked my Chelsea project’,” June 16, 2009.http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/jun/16/richard-rogers-prince-charles-architecture (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[vii] Sarah Bell, “Prince Charles’s role in battle of Chelsea Barracks,” June 26, 2010.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10282415 (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[viii] Jon Henley, “How much of London is owned by Qatar’s royal family?” December 9, 2014.http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/dec/09/london-qatar-royal-family-regents-park-200m-palace-harrods (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[ix] Kate Allen, “Songbird board rejects Canary Wharf bid,” January 12, 2015.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ab9521b4-9a6d-11e4-9602-00144feabdc0.html (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[x] Taher Al-Sharif, “Two-Way Traffic”. July 24, 2013.http://www.majalla.com/eng/2013/07/article55243729 (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[xi] Sam Webb, “How wealthy Gulf Arabs are buying up huge swathes of the capital – and now make up a tenth of all buyers in exclusive Mayfair” August 17, 2014. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2727212/How-wealthy-Gulf-Arabs-buying-huge-swathes-capital-including-150m-Mayfair-property-year-alone.html (last accessed January 7, 2015).

[xii] Cahal Milmo and James Cusick, “First Poundbury, now Bahrain: Should Prince Charles really be selling town planning to despots?” May 14, 2013. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/first-poundbury-now-bahrain-should-prince-charles-really-be-selling-town-planning-to-despots-8616371.html (last accessed January 20, 2015).

[xiii] Ivana Kottasova, “China and Qatar buying London properties,” November 11, 2014. money.cnn.com/2014/11/11/real_estate/london-real-estate-property/ (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[xiv] Ben Flanagan, “London mayor expects ‘spacecraft full of bullion’ from Arabian Gulf to land in his city,” February 26, 2015. http://www.thenational.ae/business/economy/london-mayor-expects-spacecraft-full-of-bullion-from-arabian-gulf-to-land-in-his-city (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[xv] Kate Allen, “Forest of luxury flats rises on London’s skyline,” March 15, 2015.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a4df73e0-c96d-11e4-b2ef-00144feab7de.html#axzz3UZj1Plbj (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[xvi] Lucy Barnard, “London counts on safe-haven appeal for Middle East real estate investors,” August 20, 2014. http://www.thenational.ae/business/property/london-counts-on-safe-haven-appeal-for-middle-east-real-estate-investors

[xvii] Nicholas Shaxson, “A Tale of Two Londons,” April 2013.http://www.vanityfair.com/style/society/2013/04/mysterious-residents-one-hyde-park-london (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[xviii] “A speech by HRH The Prince of Wales…’’ Ibid. (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[xix] Rowan Moore, “How a high-rise craze is ruining London’s skyline,” December 2, 2012.http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/dec/02/london-high-rise-craze-ruins-skyline

[xx] Ricky Burdett, “The London Olympics – making a ‘piece of city’,” August 1, 2012.http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/london-olympics-making-piece-of-city-burdett/ (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[xxi] Murray Fraser, and Nasser Golzari (eds.). Architecture and Globalisation in the Persian Gulf Region, 2013, p. 21.

[xxii] John Lockerbie, “An approach to understanding Islamic urban design,”http://catnaps.org/islamic/islaurb1.html (last accessed March 30, 2015).

[xxiii] Nicolai Ouroussoff, “In Arabian Desert, a Sustainable City Rises,” September 25, 2010.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/arts/design/26masdar.html?_r=0 (last accessed March 30, 2015).

Kucuk parklar ve kocaman yurekler

Bugun ogleden sonra bu ufak parkta, bankta oturuyordum. Tesvikiye'nin ortasinda, yani basindaki yuksek yogunluklu mahalle sakinlerinin nefes alabildigi parkta. Cocuklar top oynarken, yanimdaki teyze pasajdaki caycidan bana kahve ismarlamayi teklif etmis ISID'in nasil bir orgut oldugunu soruyordu. Kurtler'i anmadiysa da Turkmenler kadar Aleviler'in de aci cektiginden bahsederek... Otoyollarin kenarindaki yesilliklere mahrum birakilmayacak kadar eski, yogun ve zengin bir muhitten bahsediyoruz elbette.

Dun aksam eve donerken ise aklimda su soru vardi: Istanbul'daki yesil alanlarin duzgun bir envanteri cikarilamaz mi? Bundan kastim yalnizca planlarda 'yesil alan' olarak gorunen yerler degil elbette - yol kenari peyzajlari, betona donusmus parklar ya da asosyal kamu alanlarini kapsayan degil, gozlemler, anketler, etrafindaki orulu bolge ve ulasim aglari ile birlikte kullanim odakli bir envanter...

Gelgelelim bu aksama. Merter'de ufacik bir park olan 29 Ekim Parki'ndayiz. Yanibasindaki 3M Migros'un yaklasik 3te biri bir alana yayilmis, kentin en onemli 2 (yakinda 3 olacak) karayolu arterlerinden birinin dibinde, hafif metro koprulerinin altinda bir park. Gerginlestirilmis perdeye Can Dundar'in yonettigi 'Gozdagi' belgeseli yansitiliyor. 55 dakika icerisinde, Gezi Direnisi'nin ilk 48 saatinde gozlerini yitiren 6 genc uzerinden siddetin devlet eliyle kamusallastirilmasini irdeliyor Can Dundar. 'Goz' betimlemeleri ile aciliyor Can Dundar'in kendi anlatimiyla seslendirdigi belgesel.

'Gozumuzun onunde bulunan bir parkta' 'Halkin direnisinin goze batmasi' gibi betimlemeler kadar ilk 48 saati anlatiyor olmasi da Can Dundar'in, hassasiyet dahilinde bir manidarlik iceriyor.Iktidarin surekli olarak 'ilk 2 gunden sonra isin icine siddet unsurlari girdi' demesi, ilk 2 gun gerceklesen akilalmaz siddeti manasizlastirirken, ilk 2 gunde gozlerini, uzuvlarini, hayatlarini kaybedenlerin acilarinin dinmeye vakit dahi bulamadigi muteakip gunlerde yasanan (ve o gunlerde Iktidar'in iceri sizarak kiskirttigini Gezi'de fiziksel olarak bulunmus hepimizin gozlemledigi) karsilikli siddet iceren unsurlari da tartismanin merkezine oturttugu o cirkin anlatidan da bir adim geri atip, ilk gunlerdeki enerji ve odak noktasini tekrar animsatmaya calisiyor Can Dundar.

Bununla ilgili olarak da utangac bir tavri yok kendisinin. Gosterimden sonraki aciklama ve sorulara verdigi cevaplarda tutarli, akilci ve samimi konusuyor Can Dundar. Acikcasi Gezi sonrasi yalnizlastigini, yalnizlastikca da romantik olarak etkisizlestigini dusundugum Can Dundar'a karsi onyargiya sahip oldugumu hissediyorum. Esasinda Park'taki gosterim ortaminin (55 dakikalik gosterim boyunca surekli alkis, yuhalama ve tezahuratlarla izlenen bir filmden bahsediyoruz) da eslik ettigi bir ruh halindrn bahsediyoruz. Can Dundar'in niyeti unuttugumuz birlikteligimizin gucunu tekrar hatirlamak ve park park gosterimlerde, Forum'larda potansiyel enerjimizi animsamak.

Bu hususta gosterimlerin yalnizca park ve salonlarda toplu halde yapilma amacini akilci buluyorum. Tabii siklikla ifade edilen 'tefeciye tefe satmak' riskleri ile bu enerjinin sindirilmesi riskini es gecmeyerek. Seyircilerden biri soruyor: 'Gezi'de Iktidar hazirsizlikti, artik her tepkiyi ezebiliyor. Peki bundan sonra nasil hareket edecegiz?' Can Dundar, toplumsal ve orgutsel muhalefete inaniyor.

Benim de inandigim bir kac metod var, konusup, tartisip uygulamaya gecirmek icin efor sarfedilebilecek. O meshur 'dinlemek istemeyenlerle nasil iletisecegiz?' sorusuna yanit olabilecek. Bunlardan biri, yasadigimiz sehri enine boyuna daha iyi tanimak olabilir mi? Forumlarin bunu sosyal boyutta bir nebze yaptigina eminim ama planci, mimar ve tasarimcilara da cok is dustugu kesin. Sokaga cikmayi hatirladik ya, neye sahip oldugumuzu veya neyin eksik kaldigini da kagit uzerinden degil, sokaklarda, parklarda, mahalle aralarinda anlamaya, anlatmaya ihtiyacimiz var. O parklari, o mahalleleri korumak icin gozlerini kaybedip bu aksam gosterimde bizleri yalniz birakmayanlarin istegi de bu yonde - buna istersek 'borc' diyelim, istersek 'dayanismanin dayanilmaz hafifligi'...

30 Mart 2014 Yerel Secimleri, Elektrik Kesintileri ve Cekismeli Iller

AKP secimi hangi illerde yakin goturuyordu, elektrikler nerelerde kesildi ve bunun sonuclara ne gibi etkileri olmus olabilir?! 

Oncelikle su bilgileri gecelim: veritabanimiz iller bazinda Buyuksehir ve Merkez Ilce Belediye oylarindan olusmakta. Yani, ilce ve sandik ozelinde yasandigi iddia edilen usulsuzlukleri yakalamak icin cok buyuk bir olcekteyiz (sandik ve ilce verilerini Excel formatinda paylasabilen olursa, ona da bakabiliriz).

Ayrica, 'elektrik kesilen' iller verimiz de Twitter'da dolasan ve 21 ili kapsayan haritaya, Zaman ve Hurriyet Gazeteleri'nden okudugumuz makalelerde ismi gecen 3 ilin daha eklenmesiyle olusan 24 illik bir liste. Bu illerde ne zaman, ne kadar sureligine, tam olarak nerelerde ve neden elektrik kesildigi ise muamma olmakla birlikte, calismamizin spekulatif etkisini pek artirmakta.

Ve dolayisiyla ne gorduk (ya da ne goremedik?): Asagidaki haritalarda ozetlendigi haliyle, elektrik kesintisi ile iller bazinda oy oynamalarinin cok da etkili olmadigini gorduk. O halde buyurun bakalim haritalarimiz ne diyor...

Anekdotlar esliginde, 30 Mart 2014 Yerel Secimleri'nin yapildigi gun 24 adet ilde elektrik kesintilerinin olduguna dair bir bilgi edindik (Harita 1'deki siyah renge boyanmis iller).

AKP'nin, iller bazinda yarisi basabas goturdugu illeri tespit ettik. AKP'nin kazanmis ya da kaybetmis olsun, ilk 2'ye girdigi ve en yakin rakibiyle arasindaki farkin en fazla %1 (koyu), %3 (orta) veya %5 (acik) oldugu illeri, 'sicak iller' ('saibeli iller' diyeni de var) belirledik (Harita 2).

Daha sonra elektrik kesilen iller ile AKP'nin secimi yakin goturdugu illeri gosterip (Harita 3),



Esasinda AKP'nin bu illerden kazandigi (ya da kazandigi soylendigi) yegane 2 il olan Ankara ve Ardahan'i goruyoruz (Harita 4).

Son olarak da, AKP'nin ilk 2'de bulundugu 77 ilde en yakin rakibi ile olan net oy farklarinin %10 oldugu (eksi ya da arti) 32 ildeki oy ortalamalarini alip, bunu elektriklerin kesildigi ve kesilmedigi iller arasinda karsilastirdik. Elektriklerin kesilmedigi yerlerden, elektrigin kesildigi yerlere dogru AKP'nin yarattigi oy farkinda pozitif bir egim olup, bunun 'statistically significant' olup olmadigina baktik. Tabii ki, herhangi bir significance'a ragmen, oy kaymalarini sadece elektrige baglayamayiz, ama daha derin bir analiz yapmak icin de elimizde yeteri veri yoktu. Sonuc olarak bu analizde de gorduk ki, her ne kadar elektrik kesilmeyen illerde 0.7%lik bir oy farki ile kaybediyor, ve kesildigi yerlerde %0.6 ile kazaniyor, dolayisiyla elektrik kesintisi oy ortalamasinda + yonde %1.3luk bir oynamaya tekabul ediyor gorunse de, bu averajlardaki farkin istatistiksel olarak 'significant' oldugunu goremiyoruz. Bununla ilgili 32 ilde, AKP'nin kazandigi ve kaybettigi 16sar il ve elektriklerin kesik oldugu 9 ve olmadigi 23 il arasindaki oy farklari da bir sonraki calismaya....

2014 Yerel Secim Notlari III

Secimler oncesi son mesajim ve atamayacagim oyumun rengi:

Sirri Sureyya Onder'in konusmalari hakkinda paylasacagim dedim yorumlari paylasmak icin bir turlu vaktim olmadi. Onu da derinlemesine paylasmadan genel yorumlar biraz haksizlik olacak aslinda. Hem vakit darligindan, hem de dinlemesi en kolay ve keyifli olan Sirri Sureyya oldugu icin heralde bir turlu gerceklesmedi bu eyler, ama bir yandan da hepimizin en cok ve yakindan takip ettigi aday oldugu icin umarim bu istisna mazur gorulebilir.

Daha once IBB icin 3 onemli aday hakkinda da 3er tane onemli arti ve eksi gozlemlerimi derledigim bir ufak not hazirlamistim, onu paylasmak faydali olabilir. Esasinda, belli konu basliklari altinda kentsel politikalarin karsilastirildigi bir yazi yazmak isterdim fakat bu cok guc: Birinci nedeni, Kadir Topbas disindaki adaylarin genel olarak konularin icini dolduracak kadar veri saglamiyor olmalari. Sirri Sureyya Onder (ve Pinar Aydinlar) yerel yonetimin siyasi felsefesi disinda yerel secimlere dair hicbir bulgu paylasmiyorlar. Sarigul'un projelerini de tutarli ve manali bir butunun parcasi olarak ele almak zor. Halihazirda iyiden iyiye genel secim havasina burunmus (yalniz bu ilk degil, her genel secimin yerel secim, ve yerel secimin genel secim gibi tartisildigini unuttuk sanki) bu ortamda, isin halen 'yerel' boyutunu da gozeten su yorum/sorulari paylasmak istiyorum:

Sarigulculer:
+Oy oranlarina gore AKP hegemonyasini kiracak en guclu adayin Sarigul oldugu malum. CHP ve Sarigul ozelinde oy vermek isteyenler disinda, Sarigul'e gidecek oylarin onemli bir kismi bu sebepten gelecek.
+Sarigul, Sisli'de 38%, 65%, ve 56% oylarla 3 donem secilmis bir Baskan. Genis kitlelerden oy aliyor, yaptiklari islerin cogu onemli destek goruyor. 15 yildir Belediye yonetiyor, hirsli, caliskan bir siyasetci (her ne kadar bunun kotu yanli egilimlerini gozlemlemis olsak da).
+Beyanlarina gore, isin uzmani danismanlarla calisacak ve Belediye Meclisi'nde tek basina hareket etmeyecek (ilce belediye baskan adaylarinin belirlenmesinde oynadigi etkin rolun hem bir pazarlik, hem de bu sebepten oldugunu da dusunebiliriz).
Fakat,
-Gozlemledigimiz kadariyla katildigi programlarda duzinelerce verisel (hem de cok basit) hatalar aktariyor, anlattigi projelere hakim bir goruntu cizmiyor ve bunlari genel bir cerceveye oturtmak cok zor.
-Orgutsel (Parti) sicili zayif, dolayisiyla uzerinde vurgu yaptigi takim oyunu / katilimci (vatandas anlaminda olmasa da) ya da hesap verilebilirlik/seffaflik konusunda guvenilirligi kusku verici.
-Gezi'de nerelerdeydi? Cemaat'e ne kadar ve ne acilardan yakin? Sosyal demokratliktan gercekten ne anliyor? Bu gibi daha genis sorular ise zaten cogu kuskucunun en cok sordugu sorular.

Sirri Sureyyacilar:
+Sarigul'e de, Topbas'a da verdigi yanitlar muntazam, bilgili ve yerinde. Cok iyi bir muhalefetci oldugu gercek. 2011 secimlerinden beri de TBMM'de aktif ve coklukla neredeyse fanatizm derecesine varilan bir destek gordugu bir muhalefet izliyor ve genel siyasetin tekduze ve sikici (ve en onemlisi de, icine kapanik) resmini biraz degistiriyor.
+Gezi'de, yaptiklari kahramanliklarin yaninda, 2011'de secildigi secim cevresi olan Istanbul 2. Bolge vatandaslariyla birlikte hareket eden, MV olup da gercekten secildigi secim bolgesinde siyaset icra eden az sayidan biri.
+HDP'nin katilimci, ileri goruslu, tabana yayilan siyasi bildirgesinin temsilcisi. Siyasi felsefe baglaminda gorusleri tutarli ve samimi.
-Yerel yonetimlerde tecrubesi yok ve bu onemsiz bir baslik degil. Esbaskan adayi Pinar Aydinlar'in bu konudaki sicili daha da zayif.
-AKP-B/HDP gorusmeleri, Ocalan'in niyeti ve HDP'nin ortaya cikis zamanlamasi kusku uyandirici. Ocalan-AKP gorusmeleri disinda Kurt Hareketi'ni temsil eden bir siyasi acilimin gorunurde var olmuyor olmasi, ve HDP'nin ozellikle bu konuya vurgu yapiyor olmasi icinde tutarsizliklar barindiriyor.
-Istanbul'u, anlattigi ideoloji baglaminda yonetmesi imkansiz ve bu sadece karsisinda Ankara olacagi icin de degil. Kaldi ki, fikirsel altyapi ile, olasi siyasi ortaklari/calisma arkadaslari ile nasil bir uyum saglayacagi uzerine de suphe uyandiracak hareketleri oldu.

Topbascilar:
+Lami cimi yok, belediye baskan adaylari arasinda konuyu en iyi bilen (en iyi uygulayan demiyorum) Topbas. Sunumlarini dinlerken de, itiraz edilip karsisina gecilebilecek (ki cokca madde var) en rahat aday -- bunda iktidar olmasinin getirdigi dogal bir durum da var.
+10 yildir Istanbul'un basinda, 5 yil da Beyoglu'ndaydi, oncesinde de Erdogan'a danismanlik yapti. "Territory"sini biliyor. Her ne kadar cogumuz hakim olmasak/sevmesek de, yonettigi 14 milyon nufusluk cografyada bir cok bolgeye, ve o bolgede yasayanlara hakim.
+Halen, toplumun onemli bir kismindan destek alabilen bir siyasetci.
-Erdogan'in gudumunden cikamiyor. Erdogan'in gidici oldugunu dusunsek bile, yapilmis tahribat ve yapilacak tahribat yeteri kadar zayif bir karne olusturuyor. Bir onceki maddede + hanesinde olan toplumun bir kismina yakinliginin aksine, onemli bir kismi ise onun (veya partisi) icin sadece birer istatistiksel veri. Ozellikle, anlami hicbir sekilde doldurulmayan "kentsel donusum" projelerinde de goruldugu gibi, insan odakli kentlesme cozumlerinden cok uzak, buyuk projelerin altinda imzasi var.
-Kurdugu IMP'yi (ki kadrosunda zayifliklar da vardi) koruyacak kadar dahi isin arkasinda duramadi. IBB'nin daire mudurleri sadece "evet efendim"cilerle dolu ve kadrolasma konusunda da derin supheler uyandirdi. Bir takim lideri ya da oyuncusu goruntusunu veremiyor.
-Gezi hakkinda en ufak bir olumlu cikarim dahi yapmayan (yapmaktan itina eden) birinden, bundan sonraki donemde farkli bir tavir beklenebilir mi?

Genel gozlemlere donecek olursak:

Tayyip Erdogan'in uluslararasi arenada kredisi tukenmistir. Kendisi, er ya da gec gidecektir. Bu secimde Istanbul ve Ankara'yi kaybetse dahi gitmeyebilir (ama surec hizlanabilir), ama mutlaka gidecegi asikar. Cumhurbaskani olamayacak ve 2015 Genel Secimleri'nde agir bir darbe alirsa, layikiyla son bulacak hukumranligi. AKP giderken arkasinda cok ciddi bir iktisadi, siyasi ve toplumsal enkaz birakacak. Bu enkazi toparlamak kolay olmayacak ve Yerel'de de, Genel'de de, ciddi calismalar gerektirecek. Ama Yerel yonetimler de simdiki secimle temeli atilan olusumlarin 2015'ten sonra cok onemli bir teskil edecegini lutfen unutmayalim.

Soyle dusunelim: Belediye Baskan ve Meclisi (Ilce), en yakin cevremizi duzenleyen kurumlardir. Buyuksehir Belediye Baskani ise, Belediye uyelerinden olsan Meclis'i ve buyuksehiri idare eden bir koordinatordur. Bunlarin arasindaki uyum, Ankara ile olan uyum kadar onemlidir ve bahsi gecen enkaz calismalari yapilirken, en az Genel politikalar kadar onem arz edecektir.

Bu yuzden, yarin Istanbul'da verilecek 3 oyun 3'u de birbiriyle baglantili olarak ve birbirinden bagimsiz olarak onemli:
1. Belediyelerinizde, Meclis uyeligi icin fikirlerini savundugunuz, desteklediginiz partilere oy verin.
2. Belediye Baskanlari icin, adaylarinizi tekrar gozden gecirin ve lutfen hem benimsediginiz adaya, hem de partisiyle birlikte, Buyuksehir Belediye Meclisi'nde temsiliyetinin onemli oldugunu dusundugunuz partiye oy verin. Bu ikisi ayni partiyi gostermiyorsa, aradaki secimi dikkatli yapin.
3. Buyuksehir Belediye Baskani icin ise, 1. ve 2. maddelerde oy verdiginiz kisilerin (tum Belediye Baskanlari ve Belediye Meclisleri'nin 5te 1 uyeleri) olusturacagi bir Buyuksehir Belediye Meclisi'ni yurutmesini dilediginiz kisiye oy verin.

1. madde vereceginiz en onemli oy! Evet, 3. madde (Buyuksehir Belediye Baskani) degil, cunku 1. maddedeki oy, ne olursa olsun bos olmayan bir oy. Hem yerel Belediyenizi, hem de Meclis'ten Buyuksehir'e gidecek adayi, hem de "Turkiye genelinde yerel secim sonuclari" dendiginde 31 Mart'ta da, 2015 Genel Secimleri'nde de, donup bakildiginda istatistik ve toplumsal algi olarak onem arz edecek oy o. "Secimlerde guclu bir HDP istatistigi olsa fena mi olur" diyenlerin oyu da o, "AKP'nin oy kaybina ugradigini gormeliyiz" diyenlerin oyu da o. Lutfen, oylari ve sonuclari birbirine karistirmayalim.

2. madde vereceginiz oy belki de aralarindaki en zayif halka. Hem halihazirda bir cok ilcede baskan olacaklar belli, hem de bu oy istatistiksel olarak daha az sey ifade edecek.

Gelelim 3. maddeye: Sarigul veya Topbas'a verilmedigi surece malesef sonucta etkisi olmayacak olan oy (bu, malesef, basit ve dogru bir istatiksel bir gercek)!

Iste bu yuzden ben Sisli Belediyesi'nde oy verebiliyor olsaydim oylarim su yonde olacakti:

Belediye Meclisi - HDP; cunku her ne kadar HDP ile ilgili bazi suphelerim duruyor olsa da, Buyuksehir Belediye Meclisi'nde olasi HDP'li uyelerin nasil siyaset izleyeceklerini gormek istiyorum. HDP'nin Turkiye'deki siyasi aktorlerden biri olmasini, en azindan onumuzdeki kisa vadede gormek istiyorum. HDP'nin Sisli meclis uye adaylarindan Lara'yi destekliyorum).

Belediye Baskani - Uzgunum ama yanitim yok, oy veremeyecegimi bildigim icin adaylari inceleyemedim dahi.

Buyuksehir Belediye Baskani - Cok uzun fikir teatileri, git-gel'lerden sonra oyumu Mustafa Sarigul'e verirdim. Sunu eklemeliyim; Sarigul'e verirken var olan supheler kadar, Sirri'ya verilecek bir oyda da suphelerim olacakti (yaris Sarigul/Topbas degil, Sarigul/Onder arasinda olsaydi).

Bu kadar kamplasmis bir siyasi ortamda, icinde AKP, HDP, CHP ve olacaksa diger parti uyelerinin de oldugu bir Buyuksehir Belediye Meclisi'nin olusmasini temenni ediyorum. Ozellikle Gezi surecinden beri devam eden kentlesme uzerine olan tartismalarin devam etmesini, tabanda baslayan, Forumlarda sekillenen calismalarin surmesini, Meclis uyelerinin attigi imzalarin, toplanti notlarinin paylasilmasini, tartisilmasini, su doneme kadar tartistigimiz, konustugumuz, one surdugumuz fikir ve onerilerin canli kalmasini diliyorum. Gezi surecinde 'Belediye Meclisleri'ne adaylar belirleyelim', ya da bir parti uyesinin dedigi gibi 'amac aslinda Meclis'te muhalefette olmak' gibi mutevazi gorulebilecek ama cok onemli amaclarin sonuca ulasabilmesini diliyorum.

Unutmayalim ki, 31 Mart'ta cok farkli bir Turkiye'ye uyanmayacagiz (olayi romantize edecek gazetecilere, ve Borsa'da olacak kisa donemli oynamalara aldanmayalim). Yerel secimler her seyi degistirmeyecek, ama belki bazi sureclere etkide bulunacak. Aslinda bu secimler oncesinde gereginden fazla mesai yaptik ama bundan dolayi yakinmaktansa, bundan elde edilen kazanimlari ileri goturebildigimiz yeni bir doneme...

Yarin oy kullanacak ve ozellikle de oy sayiminda bulunacak herkese sevgilerle...