Gentrification tears at Istanbul’s historically diverse fabric

Business is brisk at Ilya Avramoğlu’s 78-year-old shop, one of the last owned by a non-Muslim on Istanbul’s historic İstiklal avenue, but a new regulation pushing gentrification may soon force its closure.

Run by three generations of a Jewish family and little changed since the 1930s, the wood-paneled Kelebek Corset Shop survived a mob attack nearly 60 years ago and decades of economic decline by keeping up with what women wear underneath.

Avramoğlu has even appealed for help from Pope Francis, who is due next month to visit the city.
An amendment to commercial laws that took effect in July allows landlords to eject tenants of 10 years or more without cause, which could hit countless businesses and residents.

The rule does not target non-Muslim minorities such as Jews, Armenians and Greeks. However, members of these communities are among Istanbul’s oldest tradesmen and are often long-term tenants, putting them at risk of eviction.

“Over the years, we watched other minorities close shop one by one,” said Avramoğlu, 53, who began working at the store when he was 18 and took it over when his father Borya became too frail in 2007.

“We have always been determined to stay, but now our fate isn’t in our hands. This law is our death sentence.”

Avramoğlu’s shop belongs to a local Catholic church whose congregation is much diminished and in need of money.

“We need laws to preserve the historical fabric of Istanbul, but the aim now is driven by profit. History gets in the way,” said Mehmet Tanal, a lawyer and lawmaker in the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), who said many fellow members of Parliament are landlords with ties to the real estate business.

He...