ISTANBUL // Mahmut Kaya looked out over the empty street in the heart of Istanbul's nightlife district and shook his head as if he still could not quite believe it.
Only a few weeks ago streets such as the one outside the Refik restaurant, where Mr Kaya works in the kitchen, were filled with neatly set tables.
But one day in late July officials from the district municipality removed all the tables and by doing so kicked off the latest debate about what government critics say is increasing Islamist pressure to change Turkey's secular republic.
"They do not want to see people drinking alcohol in the street," Mr Kaya said as he sat on a chair at Refik's this week, waiting for lunchtime guests in the empty restaurant. "It has hurt us," he said about the removal of about half a dozen street tables, roughly half of what Refik has inside.
"There used to be 200 to 300 people here every day. Now we have 50 to 60. It's summer. No one wants to sit indoors."
Beyoglu, the bar-filled district around Refik, is a prime attraction for millions of tourists in Istanbul every year. While other parts of the city represent the history and rich cultural heritage of what used to be the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, Beyoglu is all about dancing, shopping, eating and drinking until the early hours.
But the "Table Operation", as it has become known in the media, makes some critics wonder whether the religiously conservative government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, is trying to clamp down on the district's freewheeling lifestyle.
Mr Kaya and others referred to unconfirmed reports that Mr Erdogan, a conservative Muslim, passed through Beyoglu shortly before the start of Ramadan. Mr Erdogan, so the story goes, got stuck in his car in one of the side-streets because of the crowds and the tables on the streets and became angry when revellers lifted their wine and beer glasses to greet him. A few days later, the "Table Operation" began. Mr Erdogan has not commented on the suggestions.
The authorities say the aim of the "Table Operation" was to make life easier for citizens in Beyoglu who had trouble getting through some streets that had become narrow passageways because of the many restaurant tables placed on the pavement.
Business owners "were just thinking about how to earn even more money", Sadettin Ozyazici, the deputy chairman of Istanbul's municipal police force, told Turkish reporters last week. He said "on the whole, reaction of people has been positive".
Even some Refik employees supported the municipality's move. "Nobody was able to get through here any more," said Ahmet Arslan, 74, who has worked as a chef in Beyoglu for decades. "There were also pickpockets that snatched stuff from the street tables."
Critics of the "Table Operation" admitted that some bar owners had put far more tables on to the streets than they had permission for.
But that has not dampened the debate about the alleged religious motives behind the action.
"Beyoglu is not a place where you greet tourists just with some sweets," Gursel Tekin, a deputy leader of the secularist Republican People's Party, or CHP, Turkey's biggest opposition party, said at a demonstration against the "Table Operation".
Operations to clear away restaurant tables have been reported in other parts of Istanbul as well.
Actions such as the one in Beyoglu "help to strengthen the conservative hegemony" of Mr Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Armagan Ozturk, a political scientist, wrote in a commentary for bianet.org, an EU-sponsored news website.
Since coming to office almost 10 years ago, Mr Erdogan's government has often been accused of following a secret agenda to turn Turkey into an Islamic theocracy, a charge the government denies, pointing to its track record of political reforms that have strengthened democracy. Also, alcohol consumption in Turkey has risen, not fallen, under Mr Erdogan, according to official statistics. According to figures released this year, 1.4 billion litres of alcoholic beverages were consumed in Turkey in 2010, 1.4 per cent up from 2009.
Tahir Berrakkarasu, the vice-chairman of the Association of the Entertainment Sector in Beyoglu, a local pressure group, said he doubted there had been religious reasons behind the "Table Operation".
"If this was about Islam, why didn't they do it during last year's Ramadan?" Mr Berrakkarasu, a fierce critic of the programme, asked over a glass of tea in a Beyoglu side-street cafe.
Mr Berrakkarasu speculated that the "Table Operation" was triggered by Mr Erdogan's anger about getting stuck in that Beyoglu street. The prime minister had probably ordered the AKP-controlled district municipality to do something about it, Mr Berrakkarasu said.
"All of a sudden, people at the municipality with whom we have been talking for years did not pick up their telephones when we were calling, because they didn't know what to tell us," Mr Berrakkarasu said. He compared the "Table Operation" to the fate of a monument in the eastern Anatolian city of Kars, where the city administration decided to tear down the work of art after Mr Erdogan called it "monstrous" during a visit this year.
Whatever the motives behind it, the "Table Operation" has cut business by up to 80 per cent for some restaurants, Mr Berrakkarasu said. His association was trying to find a way out. "We can find practical solutions. It's not like having to discover America all over again."
He said his association was preparing to present plans with solutions for next year's summer season to both the AKP and the CHP. A stricter limit on street tables was inevitable, Mr Berrakkarasu conceded. "There will be no return to the old days."
tseibert@thenational.ae
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Points classification after Stage 4
1. Arnaud Demare (France / FDJ) 124
2. Marcel Kittel (Germany / Quick-Step) 81
3. Michael Matthews (Australia / Sunweb) 66
4. Andre Greipel (Germany / Lotto) 63
5. Alexander Kristoff (Norway / Katusha) 43
BLACK%20ADAM
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jaume%20Collet-Serra%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dwayne%20Johnson%2C%20Sarah%20Shahi%2C%20Viola%20Davis%2C%20Pierce%20Brosnan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE DRAFT
The final phase of player recruitment for the T10 League has taken place, with UAE and Indian players being drafted to each of the eight teams.
Bengal Tigers
UAE players: Chirag Suri, Mohammed Usman
Indian: Zaheer Khan
Karachians
UAE players: Ahmed Raza, Ghulam Shabber
Indian: Pravin Tambe
Kerala Kings
UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Abdul Shakoor
Indian: RS Sodhi
Maratha Arabians
UAE players: Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
Indian: S Badrinath
Northern Warriors
UAE players: Imran Haider, Rahul Bhatia
Indian: Amitoze Singh
Pakhtoons
UAE players: Hafiz Kaleem, Sheer Walli
Indian: RP Singh
Punjabi Legends
UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Sandy Singh
Indian: Praveen Kumar
Rajputs
UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed
Indian: Munaf Patel
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh960,000
Engine 3.9L twin-turbo V8
Transmission Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Power 661hp @8,000rpm
Torque 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.4L / 100k
MATCH INFO
West Ham United 2 (Antonio 73', Ogbonna 90 5')
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 36', Moura 42', Kane 49')
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
EA Sports FC 24
The Orwell Prize for Political Writing
Twelve books were longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing. The non-fiction works cover various themes from education, gender bias, and the environment to surveillance and political power. Some of the books that made it to the non-fiction longlist include:
- Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie
- Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy
- Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
- Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims by Hussein Kesvani
- Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS by Azadeh Moaveni
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Results
6.30pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah – Group 2 (PA) $36,000 (Dirt) 1,600m, Winner: RB Money To Burn, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Turf) 2,410m, Winner: Star Safari, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
7.40pm: Meydan Trophy – Conditions (TB) $50,000 (T) 1,900m, Winner: Secret Protector, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 - Group 2 (TB) $293,000 (D) 1,900m, Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
8.50pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Zakouski, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (T) 1,000m, Winner: Motafaawit, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic
John Zubrzycki, Hurst Publishers
