Istanbul Forever

Original title: Istanbul à jamais

Author: Aubin, Samuel

Publication Date:

March 2020

Pages:

272

Original language and publisher

French | Actes Sud

Territories Handled

Netherlands, North America, Scandinavia

Genre

Literary Fiction

Istanbul Forever

Original title: Istanbul à jamais

Author: Aubin, Samuel

Synopsis

Simon has been living in Istanbul with his family since 2013. A teacher for a French association that supports documentary making, this man of images is especially sensitive to the poetic beauty of this city and the diverse backgrounds and faiths of its inhabitants. Although he would like to settle down for the long term in the Beyoglu district, Simon is aware of the gradually increasing levels of violence – there is terrorism, but also the threat from an authoritarian government which ultimately leads to the putsch of July 2016 and to a swathe of arrests and injustices.

Ferhat, a Kurdish friend, seeks out Simon’s help after his wife Anouche, an interpreter originally from Armenia, disappears. As the two men scour the city in search of her, some citizens are already marching towards the Bosporus holding Turkish flags aloft. On the bridge, soldiers lying in ambush are shooting at the police. Zynep, one of Simon’s students, is present too.