Among Istanbul's birdsong lovers, an echo of Greek past
The sport of finch-keeping for cafe contests, where birds are ranked on the quality and quantity of their melodies, has its roots in Istanbul's multi-ethnic past.
Finch-keepers listen attentively as their birds, in covered cages, compete during a recent singing contest at a cafe in Istanbul. The tradition of finch-keeping has its roots in the city's multi-ethnic past and is commonly ascribed to Greeks living under Ottoman rule.
Alexander Christie-Miller
Istanbul
When men gather to witness animals fighting for sport, adrenalin and bloodlust typically follow.聽The Istanbul tradition of聽kusculuk聽(鈥榝inch-keeping鈥�), however, is a more contemplative affair: men clink tea glasses, whisper softly, and listen to melodious strains of birdsong.聽
On a recent weekend, 办耻蝉肠耻濒耻办听connoisseurs assembled in a caf茅 in the leafy suburb of Pasabahce as their birds competed聽in a three-hour long series of singing matches.
The tradition, which participants say originated within the city鈥檚 Greek community, is a relic of a rich multicultural past that is now all but erased by decades of social upheaval and mass migration out.聽
Little-known today even among modern Istanbullites, the contests are overseen by a panel of judges and take place in a handful of cafes dotted around the city, typically in May and June.聽
The birds are kept in covered cages during transport and competition in order to avoid them becoming stressed. They are judged on criteria that include the duration and consistency of their melody, and the strength and quality of their voice.
鈥淭he melody of a greenfinch is beautiful. It tugs at a person鈥檚 heartstrings, it relaxes you,聽it relieves your stress,鈥� enthuses Erdogan Atar,聽one among roughly 200 Turkish聽finch-keepers who traveled from across Istanbul for the contest.
Greek cultural relic
The birds used are聽saka聽(goldfinch) and the more challenging but tuneful聽florya聽(greenfinch), both of which are common in the hills and woods that fringe the metropolis.
Some birds are caught wild -- a practice outlawed in Turkey and one that places the tradition in murky legal territory here. Others are bred in captivity.
鈥淭his is a culture that has passed on to us from our Greek citizens in Istanbul,鈥� said Nedim Kasap, a trader and finch-keeper who sat thumbing prayer beads in a caf茅 where finch-keepers gather in Fatih district, inside聽Istanbul鈥檚 old walled city.
鈥淭he Greeks were very polite people, very cultured people鈥� They had rose gardens and in the evenings they would sit with their friends and their聽raki聽(a traditional Turkish spirit) and listen to their birds.鈥�
He adds with a laugh: 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 been transferred to us, but we鈥檙e ruining it!鈥�
The fate of the city's now largely vanished Greek population is tied to the rise of nationalism in Europe in the 19th century and the unraveling of multiethnic empires. Istanbul -- then Constantinople -- was formerly the capital of the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire until the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
Its Greek population numbered 125,000 in the 1930s, but has shrunk today to around 2,500 due to mass emigration, particularly after anti-Greek pogroms in 1955.
Like plants on a balcony
Since the advent of the Internet, some finch-keepers have begun corresponding with counterparts in Greece who also keep up the tradition.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 find anyone else in Istanbul who will admit, 鈥榃e learnt this from the Greeks,鈥� because people don鈥檛 want to confess it,鈥� says Naki Tez, a filmmaker who made a 2012 documentary about the finch-keepers. 鈥淏ut these people are very decent in that way," who adds that, "Nobody knows about (kusculuk)聽now, but during the 1960s and 70s it was very common. People were keeping finches like they grow plants on their balconies.鈥�
Today's finch-keepers come from an array of social backgrounds and professions. But a common feature is their generational roots in聽a city whose population has exploded from one million in 1950 to 15 million today.
鈥淧eople moved from the villages to the cities, and the houses sprung up like mushrooms,鈥� says Hakan Karadenizli, a retired oil worker and bird breeder who learnt聽kusculuk聽from his grandfather as a child.
No longer a sleepy village
The neighborhood of Beykoz, a stronghold for the tradition and where Mr. Karadenizli was born and still lives, was once a sleepy village on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus strait that divides Istanbul. Today it belongs to聽the expanding city and its fast paced ways.聽
鈥淥ld Beykoz was like a village. There were the locals here and they would blend together and act together. There were gardens all around here, but now it鈥檚 packed with houses.鈥�
Karadenizli, who has several shelves of trophies and medals from bird beauty and singing contests, says the persistence of聽kusculuk聽tells him the city hasn鈥檛 lost its soul.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something that is a part of the Istanbul culture, you can鈥檛 see it anywhere else.鈥�