Traditional African Meal for 10 lira (roughly 3€)

Istanbul’s historical peninsula is the last place you’d expect to find a thriving community of Africans. A far way from home, Kumkapi district boasts a large community of African migrants from all over the continent, so much so the main street of this district has been renamed ‘Somalia Street’ by locals. One walk through the neighbourhood opens up portals of otherwise unnoticed doors to these residents’ often unacknowledged existence.

by Jackie Tizora

African migrants have been coming to the country to work since 1998, when the Turkish Foreign Ministry started the ‘Opening Up for Africa Initiative’ that encouraged more exchange between Africa and Turkey. There has not been a tremendously large interest amongst Africans to move to Turkey as Europe, the USA, New Zealand and Australia are still seen as the promised lands. So often those that seize the opportunity to go to Turkey use it to get to Europe. The community that has chosen Turkey as their final destination, mostly undocumented, have conglomerated and created a ‘Little Africa’. A concentration of the good and bad sides of both Africa and the Orient.

Kumkapi Neighbourhood

Behind an inconspicuous green door, squashed in a room of 10 m2, is the restaurant annex hair salon of Mam’ Mamela, a Kenyan woman. She tells about the inner workings of the African community in Kumkapi. ‘Everyone knows everybody here – there really aren’t many of us here so we stick together’. As we’re talking, men and women come in and out of the establishment. Mam’ Mamela’s hair salon seems to be the heart of the small African community, combining two of the things most Africans pride themselves in: elaborate haırstyles and good food. Providing these services makes Mamela really deserves the prefix ‘Mam’’ which means mother. Mam’ Mamela’s restaurant is covered in posters of upcoming events in Istanbul, ranging from boat parties to gospel concerts and even Miss Africa Turkey pageants. These are all organised by Big’s Entertainment, an African event’s planning company. Mam’ Mamela moved to Istanbul from Stuttgart, Germany 7 years ago. She says that, despite preferring Germany over Turkey, the price of living here is cheaper, it’s easier to live here undocumented and she is in no competition for work. Her nostalgia for life back in Stuttgart is evident in her television set being permanently set on a German news channel.

She tells how the community is a double-edged sword, encompassing the results of the good and bad that can come out of mixing two communities otherwise geographically and socially isolated. ‘African women are really worshipped by the Turkish’. This refers to the common fetishism of the female African body and skin colour. In Istanbul this has resulted in African women becoming prostitutes to support themselves and their families and the Turkish men being able to live out their fantasies. On the other hand, language has really developed informally in the district. Turks speak Swahili and French, while Africans speak Turkish without formal schooling. It’s the perfect cultural exchange. There ıs defınıte dıscrımınatıon accordıng to Mamela as Afrıcans are wıthout a doubt a mınorıty, but beıng able to understand and communıcate makes Afrıcans less susceptıble to abuse.

Mam’ Mamela says that she meets a new person from Africa at least once a week. Thıs ıs true as I came across Petra who arrived one and a half weeks ago from Uganda and a Ghanaıan, Peter, who arrıved thıs week and is visiting a friend for two months all in one walk about the area. At the rate at which the Africans are moving into the Istanbul, Turkey will soon not only be connecting Europe and Asia but Africa too