Aisha from Istanbul works in a friend's café in Kadıköy. The neighbourhood is her home, the regular customers a second family. Because of galloping inflation, the rents are to be adjusted, including hers. She fights her landlord's eviction with all means. She would like to open her own restaurant: an impossibility in these unstable times.
"I was born and raised in Istanbul." Aisha says as she tops up çay. She is sitting at a small table in a café in Yeldeğirmeni, Kadıköy, where she works. It is quiet right now, so she has time for an interview. "The café belongs to a friend of mine," she says. "I've been working here since the Covid pandemic, six days a week." Before that, Aisha had a photo studio and was self-employed as a photographer for 14 years. But the job was tough, the competition fierce and the jobs scarce due to the pandemic: she closed her shop and started working in the café. She actually has a university degree in psychology, but she says of herself that she was too emotional and involved and found it difficult to treat others' stories with professional detachment. That is why she did not work in this field for long.
On the other hand, she feels very comfortable in the neighbourhood and is always open for a chat. "I am a social person. This is like a big family everyone knows each other. Even though the work is physically demanding I like being here." Inflation has not hurt the popularity of the place. The regulars still come, even though the prices have doubled. Compared to other cafés, the drinks here are cheap, says Aisha. She also feels the effects of inflation in her private life. For one thing, she goes out less, invites friends home more often and can no longer afford holidays.
"Travelling has become a dream."
She is also affected by the rising rents. Her landlord, who lives in Adana, has recognized his own needs and is trying to get her out of the apartment. He does not even live in Istanbul. "He will ‘move in’ there for a few weeks so that he can then increase the rent to 10000 Lira per month. That is absurd. Right now I'm paying 3000 liras. I won't be kicked out!" Aisha says, shaking her head angrily. "Kadıköy is my home. I won't move anywhere else!" She has got herself a lawyer and is going to take legal action against her landlord.
Aisha would like to open her own café: impossible in these times of inflation. "It's getting worse and worse, comparing the current situation with previous years. The government has to change a lot or be changed itself!" But not only in terms of inflation: "In Kadıköy I feel like an equal part of society. But if I lived somewhere else, in Ümraniye for example - I don't know if it would be the same. Some are more equal than others... Besides, I don't leave this neighbourhood that often, at most I go to Taksim or Beşiktaş." She likes to spend her free time reading or painting. She is currently learning Spanish. "I would like to have a child in a few years. And I will have stopped smoking by then." She laughs.
"My dream is to be a famous artist. And freedom..." she ponders. "Freedom to me means being able to act without paternalism and questioning myself."