My father had met my mother in Turkish Cyprus. I was born in Cyprus, but when I was just a few months old, we moved back to my father’s hometown, Istanbul.
My mother, until then, had lived in a shack. Dolapdere was a step up for her. The height of that step is much debated.
Dolapdere is in the district of Beyo??lu. In the early nineties, it was rough. Poverty-stricken. Dangerous. No self-respecting Istanbullu would find themselves there. Legend has it that we were rabid. Cholera stricken. Partially true.