'Librairie de Pera'

"Mr Guracar's shop took up two of three rooms in the small two-storey house.
The history of the Librairie de Pera reflects Istanbul's character as a cosmopolitan city with many identities. The shop was founded in the 1920s by a business partner of the former book purveyor to the Ottoman court and was later owned by families from the city's Greek community. One owner, in the 1940s, was a prominent historian.
Mr Guracar, a regular at the bookshop, was asked by a daughter of the historian to take it over in 1984, when he was a student. He agreed because the price was "very adequate", as he put it. He later set up a website that he now hopes will help him to stay in business even without a physical shop. He said he had about 56,000 books in storage.
"It would have been important in a place like Istanbul to keep such a shop afloat," he said. But he said the authorities were interested only in earning as much money for the state as possible. "It's a shame for Turkey."
Also hit by the wave of gentrification was a 1940s sweet shop, Inci, and the historic Emek theatre, which was demolished this year.
Up the road from the Librairie de Pera, another well-known but struggling Istanbul bookseller has enlisted the help of Turkey's Nobel laureate, Orhan Pamuk,to raise money.
"We have had a 300 per cent rent increase within the last five years," said Seda Ates, co-owner of the Robinson Crusoe 389 bookshop on Istiklal Street.
In an effort to raise cash quickly, the shop is asking customers to pay 500 or 1,000 lira up front for a "RobKart" and use the card afterwards to buy books or magazines. Mr Pamuk is appearing on posters promoting the cards.
"Gentrification has been on the increase around here," Ms Ates said. When she opened her bookshop 19 years ago, there were cobblers and other small shops in the vicinity. "Now, Istiklal is filled with big global brands."

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