Republic Monument

The Istanbul pogrom, also known as the Istanbul riots or the September events (Greek: Σεπτεμβριανά, romanized: Septemvriana, lit. 'Events of September'; Turkish: 6–7 Eylül Olayları, lit. 'Events of 6–7 September'), also referred to as the Turkish Kristallnacht, were a series of state-sponsored anti-Greek mob attacks directed primarily at Istanbul's Greek minority on 6–7 September 1955. The pogrom was orchestrated by the governing Democrat Party in Turkey with the cooperation of various security organizations (Tactical Mobilisation Group, Counter-Guerrilla and National Security Service). The events were triggered by a fake news story which stated that the day before, Greeks had bombed the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece, — the house where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born in 1881. A bomb which was planted by a Turkish usher at the consulate, who was later arrested and confessed, incited the events. The Turkish press was silent about the arrest, instead, it insinuated that Greeks had set off the bomb.The pogrom is occasionally described as a genocide against Greeks, since, per Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, despite its relatively low number of deaths, it "satisfies the criteria of article 2 of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (UNCG) because the ‘‘intent to destroy in whole or in part’’ the Greek minority in Istanbul was demonstrably present, the pogrom having been orchestrated by the government of Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes" and "As a result of the pogrom, the Greek minority eventually emigrated from Turkey.".A Turkish mob, most of whose members were trucked into the city in advance, assaulted Istanbul's Greek community for nine hours. Although the mob did not explicitly call for the killing of Greeks, over a dozen people died during or after the attacks as a result of beatings and arson. Armenians and Jews were also harmed. The police were mostly ineffective, and the violence continued until the government declared martial law in Istanbul, called in the army and ordered it to put down the riots. The material damage was estimated at US$500 million, including the burning of churches and the devastation of shops and private homes.The pogrom greatly accelerated emigration of ethnic Greeks from Turkey, in particular the Greeks of Istanbul. The Greek population of Turkey declined from 119,822 in 1927, to about 7,000 in 1978. In Istanbul alone, the Greek-speaking population decreased from 65,108 to 49,081 between 1955 and 1960. The 2008 figures released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry placed the number of Turkish citizens of Greek descent at 3,000–4,000; while according to the Human Rights Watch (2006) their number was estimated to be 2,500.The attacks have been described as a continuation of a process of Turkification that started with the decline of the Ottoman Empire, as roughly 40% of the properties attacked belonged to other minorities. The pogrom has been compared in some media to the Kristallnacht, the 1938 pogrom against Jews throughout Nazi Germany.In 2009, Turkish then-Prime Minister Erdogan said that Turkey has committed mistakes, and that: "Those minorities with different ethnic identities were expelled from our country in the past. It was result of fascist policy."

Taksim Stadium (Turkish: Taksim Stadı) was the first football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Originally the 19th century Taksim Artillery Barracks (Taksim Topçu Kışlası) it was transformed into a stadium in 1921 and was located next to today's Taksim Square. The ground was the home of all major football clubs in Istanbul, including Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş. The stadium had a seating capacity of around 8,000. It was closed in 1939 and demolished in 1940, during the formation of Taksim Square. The site was converted to a public park, named the Taksim Gezi Parkı. The first game of the Turkey national team was played at the Taksim Stadium against Romania on October 26, 1923, and ended in a 2–2 draw, with both goals of Turkey scored by Zeki Rıza Sporel.

The 2010 Istanbul bomb blast was a suicide bombing that took place on Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey on 31 October 2010. The bomb resulted in at least 32 injuries, 15 of whom were police officers and was claimed by a Kurdish secessionist group known as the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK).

The Taksim Square massacre (Turkish: Kanlı 1 Mayıs, or the Bloody First of May) was an attack on leftist demonstrators on 1 May 1977 (International Workers' Day) in Taksim Square, Istanbul, Turkey. Casualty figures vary between 34 and 42 persons killed and 126 and 220 injured. Over 500 demonstrators were later detained by the security forces, and 98 were indicted. None of the perpetrators were caught, although suspicion soon fell on the Counter-Guerrilla and associated right-wing groups. The massacre was part of the wave of political violence in Turkey in the late 1970s.

A rally commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the 1992 massacre of Azerbaijani civilians and armed troops by local irregular Armenian forces and the 366th Commonwealth of Independent States Guards Motor Rifle Regiment took place in Istanbul on 26 February 2012. It was the largest campaign within "Justice for Khojaly" framework. The demonstration with slogan "We are all from Khojaly" (Azerbaijani: "Hamımız Xocalılıyıq", Turkish: "Hepimiz Hocalılıyız") started in front of Galatasaray High School and lasted several hours in Taksim Square (Istanbul, Turkey) with around 200,000 participants.The rally however took a very racist tone as many members of the crowd displayed anti-Armenian slogans containing hate speech and chanted violent threats towards Armenians.

Taksim Square (Turkish: Taksim Meydanı, IPA: [ˈtaksim ˈmejdanɯ]), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the central station of the Istanbul Metro network. Taksim Square is also the location of the Republic Monument (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Anıtı) which was crafted by Pietro Canonica and inaugurated in 1928. The monument commemorates the 5th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, following the Turkish War of Independence. The Square is flanked to the south by The Marmara Hotel, to the east by the Atatürk Cultural Centre, to the north by Gezi Park and to the west by Taksim Mosque. Several major roads converge on the Square: Gümüşsuyu Caddesi, Cumhuriyet Caddesi, Tarlabaşı Bulvari, İstiklal Caddesi and Sıraselviler Caddesi.

Taksim Mosque (Turkish: Taksim Camii) is a mosque complex in Taksim Square, Istanbul. It was designed by two Turkish architects in the Art Deco style, and can hold up to 3,000 worshippers at the same time. Construction began on February 17, 2017 and lasted for four years. The mosque was inaugurated with a Friday prayer attended by the President, Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan, on 28 May 2021.The land on which the mosque was built is currently owned by the Directorate General of Foundations.

Changa is a restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey, established in 1999 and located close to Taksim Square. It is owned by restaurateurs Tarık Bayazıt and Savaş Ertunç, and operated under the consultancy and supervision of the renowned Kiwi chef Peter Gordon. In 2002, Changa was chosen 39th of the world's 50 top restaurants by the Restaurant magazine.Named after the Swahili language word for "mix", Changa is situated in a restored house of Art Nouveau style built in 1903, occupying its all four floors. The interior is a combination of classic style with modern elements. The restaurant can host 90 people at a time and the bar can handle up to 40. For private occasions, the dining room on the fourth floor can accommodate between twelve and thirty persons.The kitchen presents Turkish cuisine blended in line with modern style dishes of Pacific Rim utilizing fusion-method cookery that allows natural ingredients with international flavors to be marinated, cooked and served all in harmony on the same plate. Fusion food is cooking without borders, melting two or more ingredients from two different cuisines to create a new single dish that complements the individual flavors and ingredients. The fusion technique is centuries-old and was born when the Chinese people moved to America, the Americans adopted the Mexican food, the Africans came to Europe and the French discovered the Indo-Chinese cuisine. However, this type of food was criticized by some gastronomers for having no rules and no defined techniques without respecting the traditional recipes.In addition to its ranking at the "Top 50", the venue was honored in 2002 with "Overall Excellence Award" by the Time Out magazine.

Taksim is an underground rapid transit complex. It is located in central Beyoğlu under Taksim Square in Istanbul. The complex is serviced by the M2 line of the Istanbul Metro and the Kabataş-Taksim Funicular (F1) line. Taksim was opened on 16 September 2000 as the southern terminus of the M2 until the line was extended to Yenikapı in 2014. On 29 June 2006 the Kabataş-Taksim funicular station was opened, offering shuttle service to Kabataş. Taksim is the busiest station on the M2 Line as well as the Istanbul Metro. Connections to Havabüs express bus service to Sabiha Gökçen Airport are available.

The Hagia Triada ("Holy Trinity"; Greek: Ιερός Ναός Αγίας Τριάδος, romanized: Ierós Naós Agías Triádos; Turkish: Aya Triada Rum Ortodoks Kilisesi) is a Greek Orthodox church in Istanbul, Turkey. The building was erected in 1880 and is considered the largest Greek Orthodox shrine in Istanbul today. It is still in use by the Greek community of Istanbul. It has about 150 parishioners. The church is located in the district of Beyoğlu, in the neighborhood of Katip Çelebi, on Meşelik sokak, near Taksim Square.

Taksim Surp Harutyun Church (Armenian: Սուրբ Յարութիւն Եկեղեցի), is an Armenian Church in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. The original date of first construction is not known but the church was removed in 1846, closed down in 1890 and rebuilt in 1895 by the architects Hovhannes and Mıgırdiç Esayan.

Akbank Sanat is an art center founded by the Turkish bank Akbank in 1993. The art center is located in Beyoğlu, İstanbul and organizes over 700 events every year.