Navigating the streets of İstanbul

Although Turkey is a relatively safe destination with a low crime rate, we all know that visitors should always take certain necessary safety precautions, such as watching out for pickpockets and purse snatchers when traveling on buses, trains and boats, and in crowded markets.

But what about those of us who reside here? Are there any special safety precautions for us?

A number of foreigners do not live in gated communities. Your apartment building may not have a security guard. The car park may not be secure. If you are lucky, your car park will have an automated barrier across the drive entrance. But half the time it is broken and remains in the up position so anyone can enter.

That’s when it gets nasty. Residents in neighboring buildings sneak their car into your car park. Of course, when this person returns, he should be relieved if only his window wiper has been lifted up. Sometimes a car will have a flat tire!

You may have experienced some form of vandalism toward your personal property. Often this vandalism is probably being done by someone in your building who smiles at you and greets you when you come home in the evening. Or it could be the person in the next building who shouts a warm hello from the balcony. Sadly, vandalism is not always done by strangers here. It’s done by jealous individuals and offended and revengeful people.

One of the main stress points between neighbors is local traffic, such as services buses blocking the road and competition over parking spaces on the street or in a car park.

One Today’s Zaman reader shares this observation about parking:

Dear Charlotte: I live in Etiler because it is close to my work. I have chosen not to drive a car, but I have a motorbike. My Turkish husband, and it seems everyone else, seem to drive as though they have the right to drive however suits them. Especially in this area, parking is a major problem -- you can park your car anywhere, under any circumstance. In morning rush hour it is not unusual for a driver to just stop his car and run up to the ATM machine or the corner kiosk to purchase a newspaper or pack of cigarettes.

Dear Today’s Zaman reader:

I thought I was brave to drive here, but you are braver than me to ride a motorbike! A friend shared with me recently how terrible the traffic was in Aksaray. She thought it must have been a serious accident, but as she got closer she discovered the delay had been caused by a man who had forgotten to polish his shoes. The driver had just parked right on the turn where he could conveniently let the shoe-shine boy polish his shoes -- making it hard for cars behind him to pass.

And people complain about female drivers putting on lipstick at the stop light!

I wonder how many of us have seen a similar scenario -- the driver who has parked “for a minute” just gives each of us who manage to barely squeak past his car a friendly fake apologetic smile and a “just a minute” gesture.

Caferağa Mahallesi is a district in Kadıköy, known for substantial congestion on all streets -- be it pedestrian or automobile. There is no room for residents or visitors to park!

We have all come to a sudden halt because the driver in front of us has spotted a potential parking spot. Now we all wait for the other car. Then you hear sirens. You can see in your rearview mirror the ambulance is about four cars in back.

A person who is gravely ill in the ambulance, in desperate need of getting to the hospital as soon as possible, is being held up because of a selfish person who wants a spot to park in!

The driver who is trying to park smiles at us all, giving us a “just a second” gesture, and keeps us waiting! The ambulance sirens continue. Hopefully the life support system for the ambulance patient continues while the idiot claims his car spot.

Maybe John Walsh could send over a clone to patrol the streets! We need protection from those criminals who vandalize our personal possessions and who rob patients of their medical assistance because they don’t want to lose their precious parking spaces.