Anger at fate of Istanbul’s train station

When Senay Kartal worked at Turkey's most beautiful railway station, her days were filled with the rumble of locomotives and the bustle of passengers at Haydarpasa on the banks of the Bosphorus.

- FULYA OZERKAN

But gone are the days when passengers from Anatolia would walk its marble halls, suitcases in hand, marvelling at the grandiose landmark on Istanbul's Asian waterfront.

Today the tracks lie silent at what was Turkey's busiest station, the great eastern hub of the Berlin to Baghdad railway.

Once immortalised in old Turkish films and portrayed in numerous novels, the station has been taken over by the Turkish culture ministry, which wants to transform it into an art centre.

Yet for the 61-year-old retiree, who still hears the echo of whistles and the cries of simit sellers hawking their sesame-coated bread rings, the iconic building should remain a railway station.

“People would step off the train and we had waiting halls where they could stay the night — there was no need for a hotel,’ recalled Ms Kartal.

“It was such a beautiful place, there was so much movement and energy, people were full of excitement and joy. That beauty no longer exists today,’ she told AFP.

“I gave 38 years of my life to Haydarpasa, and yet even to me, its doors are closed.”

‘PERSONAL MEMORIES’