Shadow of progress falls on Istanbul's historic vegetable gardens

Recep Eraslan, 64, has worked a tiny sliver of land on Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet peninsula for more than three decades. He grows spring onions, arugula and cabbage on a 0.5 hectare plot along the city's ancient Byzantine-era walls that are part of one of the oldest urban gardens, or bostans in Turkish, in the world.

But last year, the tranquility of this parcel of green space, hemmed in by a metropolis of 15 million people, was shattered.

Eraslan, recalled what happened on Jan. 13, 2016. "There used to be a building there that we used for our tools and plants. The municipality came with machines and destroyed it because they said they wanted the area to be cleaner," he said. "Now we have lost that storage space and have to walk one kilometer to and from my house every day."

More than 20 growers and their families, including Eraslan, the breadwinner for a family of five, depend on the Yedikule market gardens that abut the 1,600-year-old, UNESCO-protected city walls for their livelihoods. 
But with Turkish authorities in the midst of a nationwide drive to modernize cultural and tourist areas, the farmers, who pay a fee for using the land, are under threat.

Historic heritage 

In 2013 more than 20 acres of gardens, including the 17th-century İsmail Paşa gardens inside the Yedikule walls, were cleared and replaced with sports grounds, car parks and walk ways. Today, much of the surrounding areas are left derelict.

The Yedikule market gardeners, a community of around 200 people, are a living link to a heritage that goes back centuries. 

Today, the gardens are popular with locals because the produce is cheaper and fresher than vegetables sold in supermarkets. Some farmers live part...