We had just been robbed… I had gotten off with just being threatened with a knife, but my friend had just lost an expensive phone. After chasing our robber we decided to go to the police and a new adventure was about to start.
We headed to the closest police station. We got there and my body was still filled with adrenaline… the rush started subsiding and I started to feel a bit weak. I realized I had to sit down for a second or I would faint. Funny how you can switch from a clear, calm and focused mental state to nearly passing out in such a short time, but then again I’ve always performed well under pressure.
We were told we had to take it to a different station, so we went there. That’s when we found out we were robbed just 3 corners away from the main police station of the district. We went in and told the cops about what had happened. We were sent to some office where there were a few people telling their accounts to police officers. My friend translated that the basic attitude of these guys was that it’s people’s own fault if they get robbed; they shouldn’t have been in that place, at that time. We were sitting in a waiting room and there was an older man (in his 50s or 60s) whose head was bleeding. My friend talked to him and apparently he had been mugged by the same guy. Apparently he had also held the knife to the head of the guy and had cut him. We told the police that it was probably the same guy and they told us to wait. They said they would send some cops in civilian clothes out to act as bait.
After about ten minutes we were told to come along and we were introduced to two super bad ass cops in civilian attire. The one had hair until his shoulders and a long red leather coat. The other was shorter and had a black leather jacket and looked like he had a mix of coffee and whiskey as blood and ate burning cigarettes for breakfast. They told us to get in their car and we started driving. Their attitudes were dead serious. I knew that if we found the robber, they’d beat him up quite badly. Turks hate thieves intensely and many people condone the violence they endure when they’re caught.
We drove back to the street where we were robbed. Nothing there. We drove through the street where we were drinking beers. At some point we passed some people who were sleeping on the street under a blanket. They stopped the car and told us to get out. We got out. The guy grabbed the blanket and uncovered the people in a rather rough manner. He asked us if it was one of them and we said no. We then got back into the car, blanket still lying on the street. The cops were definitely a bit rough around the edges.
We drove down to a neighbourhood which is right next to Taksim, not more than a 10 minute walk from the main street. We entered the neighbourhood and immediately we were in a different world. From the nicest, and one of the richest and most modern sites of Istanbul, to one of immense poverty with a high degree of f—ed upness. The streets were no longer asfalted or paved… There was trash everywhere along the dark or dimly lighted streets. There were prostitutes and transexuals in some streets and murky guys standing around in others, even though it was after 5 in the morning.
At some point we stopped in the middle of one of the streets, a rather crowded one. One of the cops got out and went into a building. As he stepped into the entryway he disappeared into the darkness of the shadows. Neither of us knew why he had stepped out to go there, but after a few minutes he came back, got into the car and indicated that we hadn’t found him. We drove around for a few more minutes and then went back to the police station.
That neighbourhood is the worst place I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen quiet a few bad places. The most alarming side to it however is that it’s right next to the area where people go out and get drunk. Robbers can just come out of the neighbourhood, go back to their neighbourhood where nobody will follow them and they won’t be found.
The next post will be about the aftermath… What I realized afterwards, how it might have affected my stay in Istanbul and the opinion of the Taksim district, and another similar event… Leading me to the conclusion there’s a 99% chance someone will try to rob you if you hang out in certain parts of the district at night. Follow the rules kids, don’t f–k around in this area! Especially at night.
What are the best and worst experiences you’ve had with police officers? What do you think about the officers in your country? Do you have similar areas next to the most important party district of your city?
BasBasBas.com is about my life abroad. I regularly write about my adventures in Istanbul, Bulgaria and travels in the region. If you’d like to stay up to date, you can subscribe to my RSS feed or get email updates in your inbox. You can also follow me on Twitter.
