Read on Twitter
"What is the best way to write about the sex industry in Turkey? I posed this question to a well-known Ottoman historian. He smiled at me on a warm Istanbul evening and said, “Did you ever visit Zurafa [Street]?” "
Zurafa Street is in one of Istanbul's oldest and most notorious brothel areas, dating back to Ottoman timesΟver the years, the number of brothels has dwindled
The brothels and the official tallies of the women working in them reveal only a small part of Turkey's sex industry
There are frightening numbers that can be categorized in the field of human trafficking and sex trade in Turkey, which did not stop under the rule of the AK Party led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Before we review some of these figures on this phenomenon from various sources,
we must point out that the twaddle of the #MuslimBrotherhood Brotherhood about their committed #Turkish ally has fallen and it is all clear now the opportunistic relationship between the two parties.Turkey’s claims of being the leader of the Islamic world
and the one that cares for its interests and represents its culture has fallen as well.The booming prostitution sector in #Turkey contrasts with the false rhetoric and greedy exploitation of the regional issues by a country whose Muslim leader speaks about values
and leads one of the most prominent parties of political Islam, while his party runs a government that is getting a revenue of over $ 4 billion a year from prostitution!#TURKEY -> " $ 4 billion a year from prostitution! "
In the statistics that are circulated and are no longer hidden, Erdogan’s party, which thinks itself the successor of the Ottomans, has added during its rule of Turkey over the past 13 years the equivalent of 1680% as an increase in the number of women practicing prostitution!
For my beloved turkish readers that will cry all over"Fake News",
"Stupid Gayreek",
"Soon" and "Teach Swim"
please read this article from Hurriyet by Professor Ayşegül Akbay, a public health expert at Ankara University. https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/academic-highlights-high-prostitution-figures-in-turkeys-4-billion-industry--104897
There are about 15,000 licensed brothels in #Turkey and many more unlicensed!Therefore, #Turkey ranks tenth in the world in this trade, despite being an Islamic country and governed by a party that represents the Muslim Brotherhood,
but it is following the footsteps of this group of politicizing religion and exploiting it to reach power.Istanbul came first among the Turkish cities for the number of licensed and unlicensed brothels.
The number of prostitution workers has reached 300,000 people!
A Turkish Journalist Spend A Year Among Istanbul’s Impoverished African Sex Workers,“Most African sex workers in Istanbul actually come to the city to work in ordinary jobs, seeking to earn money to send to their families in Africa,” stated Saka
Their ultimate goal, though, is to go to Europe or America They enter Turkey with regular visas, but must stay clear of the police after their visas expire The life of a prostitute is deplorable the women are deprived of their rights and held as slaves by those who “own” them
Layla came to Istanbul disguised as a tourist but in the care of another African sex worker.The woman paid for her trip, but asked for double the amount after she arrived.
The other woman seized her passport until she paid the amount,
recommending to her that she become a sex worker so as to pay off the debt more quickly. Layla’s mother thinks that she works at a factory.When she met Layla, she had 1,000 dollars remaining on her debt
The prostitutes also face racism and rough treatment due to their skin color.“They endure the worst in the streets, even worse than white sex workers,” described Saka. “I managed to photograph a guy who slapped an African sex worker merely for asking for a high price.
Another time, I saw a man trying to tear off the underwear of an African sex worker as she was walking by in jeans.Another one jumped in the middle of them, swinging a knife.
Another guy released violent dogs to attack the women
The situation for Africans in Turkey is so bad that people like LAYLA want to go home.They cannot stay in Turkey.
“I’m happy I came here… I now realize I love Africa"
Of course there is male prostitution also.Tarlabaşı is one of few places in Istanbul where transsexuals have found a safe haven.
Turkish society is in many ways socially conservative, and transsexuals are met with discrimination, mockery and attacks.
But in Tarlabaşı – often the only place in the city where they can find apartments to rent – the community feels relatively safe.
Open any dating app in Istanbul and you will see the effects of the refugee crisis appear on your screenFor many refugees who have fled war and persecution from former students to engineers and cleaners the financial struggle to get by can lead them to sell sexual services
I want to be a professional dancer, I studied accounting at university before coming to Turkey, says Wissam, who has spent the past three years in Istanbul. "I started working as an escort three months agoI don’t accept Turks as they only pay 100-150 Turkish Liras (€24-35)
Let's talk now about the occupied Cyprus
"It's the survival of the fittest on this island," says Lovli, a student in her twenties from Nigeria.Fighting back tears, Lovli describes how she left home to build a better life, leaving behind a husband and two small children whom she has not seen in more than two years.
She is one of some 120,000 students in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, a self-declared republic recognized only by TurkeyThat is a lot of students among a permanent population of not much more than 300,000
Before 2011 there were only six universities here, today >30.
Lovli's life here has not lived up to the dream she was sold.A Nigerian friend of her husband, working as an agent for universities in northern Cyprus, told her she could study here for only $1,500 (£1,150; €1,300) a year as well as find a job to help her family back home.
When she arrived, the meagre savings she had, which she thought would pay for the full amount of her fees, only covered the first installment.She would now need to earn $1,000 a month to cover all expenses including fees, but she can only get unregulated low-paid jobs
like cleaning and cooking, and is working long hours seven days a week.For many people like her, occupied Cyprus was not really about education, but about a promise of a chance to work in Europe and forge a better life for her and her family. And that is not happening.
Lovli is not alone. There are many fellow Africans, and Asians too, who find themselves in dire straits.A Zimbabwean pastor, who prefers to remain anonymous, says many of the students fall prey to loan sharks. When payback time comes, things "can get ugly...
and police say they cannot intervene", he says.A number of female students have told him they have been forced to pay back their debts "with sexual favours".
He claims he saved one woman from a house where she had been kept for months and forced into prostitution.
Then there is the risk that their degrees are seen as worthless.As occupid Cyprus is not recognized internationally, a degree from here not only has to be accredited by local licensing body Yodak, but by Turkish authorities too, for it to have any global appeal.
One of the universities that has lost its accreditation from Turkey is Akdeniz Karpaz, based n the occupied side of the capital, NicosiaIt is part-owned by occupier MP and businessman Ahmet Erbas who runs a local hotel and casino and have a stake in occupied Cyprus's airport
Sources:https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/05/14/the-brothel-next-door/
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/09/turkey-changing-face-of-sex-industry-services.html
https://almezmaah.com/english/2018/01/09/licensed-prostitution-flourishes-under-turkeys-erdogan/
https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/04/01/turkish-journalist-spends-a-year-among-istanbuls-impoverished-african-sex-workers/
https://www.mashallahnews.com/tarlabasi-the-dusk/
https://www.politico.eu/interactive/in-pictures-risky-business-for-sexugees-in-turkey/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47170419
/end thread
@threadreaderapp unroll
