Journalist-writer Ersin Kalkan, who restored historical Agora Meyhanesi (Agora Tavern) in Balat and opened it in 2014, is one of the figures who were born in Balat and makes an effort for the neighborhood. Kalkan says that the urban transformation threat has been avoided but the social transformation continues. “This is inevitable. It is the same with Barcelona or New York. This place can no longer be a Tarlabaşı”. Kalkan adds that after the case concluded, people have started restoration and opened cafes, and now there won’t be return from this point.
Yet those who became unemployed following the closing of Gülen Movement media outlets do not want to talk to anybody out of fear of being associated with putschists. Journalists from Gülen Movement media that we could reach hid their past. Such that, without exception, they All rejected giving us an anonymous interview.