The first quarter of the 1970s: the main bus and trolleybus stops in Bebek. The hill rising in the background is the famous İnşirah Hill… It winds its way up to Etiler and joins Nisbetiye Avenue. The ground was paved with mosaic tiles so that the vehicles’ tires could grip the road more easily and not slip backward in rain, mud, snow, or winter. The bus next to the phone booth is on one of the Bosphorus routes, or perhaps one of the Eminönü or Taksim loops just departing from the Bebek depot… The No. 22C route, which runs back and forth from Bebek to Eminönü along the waterfront, and the route that loops within the Akaretler-Ayaspaşa-Taksim-Pangaltı-Şişli-Mecidiyeköy-Yıldız-Serencebey-Beşiktaş loop, with the 23 and 23A routes operating in opposite directions. Trolleybuses were generally assigned to these routes, but during scheduled power outages, the electric vehicles were replaced by diesel buses. Directly across the frame, right in the foreground, is the famous Bebek Mosque and park.
Who knows how many times I called home from that yellow phone booth back in the day… My late mother used to worry about me a lot whenever I disappeared for a long time. To keep her from worrying, whenever I returned from my distant Bosphorus excursions—to places like Sarıyer, Tarabya, Yeniköy, or Emirgân—I’d get off at Bebek and call her from that booth, dropping one of the handful of tokens I always carried in my pants pocket into the slot. She’d be so happy to hear my voice… After our brief chat, I’d hop on the next bus coming up behind me and continue on my way. As you know, back in those days, we all had blue cards in our shirt pockets that allowed unlimited use, giving us the chance to ride any bus we wanted, getting on and off as often as we pleased.
The coastal road from Âşiyân to Bebek, Arnavutöy, Kuruçeşme, Ortaköy, Çırağan, and Beşiktaş used to never get congested. There were fewer cars, and the entertainment spots overlooking the Bosphorus were more limited compared to today… A bus departing from Bebek would invariably drop off its passengers at the 35-minute mark, in front of the Ülfet olive oil store at the base of the pedestrian overpass stairs in Eminönü. If you were traveling by trolleybus, you’d have to add another five minutes to the total travel time.
These photos, like our memories, are long gone. Just like our loved ones, whom we remember with longing, accompanied by a deep, sorrowful twinge in our hearts…